SNOWDONIA NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY

Snowdonia National Park Authority Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31st of March 2016

Page 1 of 76

SNOWDONIA NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY

STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2016


Page 2 of 76

SNOWDONIA NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY

STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS 2015/16

INDEX

Page(s)

Narrative Report 3-8

Statement of Responsibilities for the Statement of Accounts 9

Statement of Accounting Policies 10-19

The Accounting Statements:

- Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement 20-21

- Balance Sheet 22

- Movement in Reserves Statement 23-24

- Cash Flow Statement 25

Notes to the Accounts 26-59

Auditor’s Report 60-61

Annual Governance Statement 62-75

Glossary 76


Page 3 of 76

NARRATIVE REPORT

1. INTRODUCTION

The narrative report provides a brief explanation of the more significant matters reported in the accounts and aims to add to and assist the interpretation of the accounting statements which are set out on pages 20 to 25 and consist of :-

The Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement consolidates all the gains and losses experienced by the Authority during the financial year. These gains and losses should reconcile to the overall movement in net worth.

The Balance Sheet setting out the financial position of the Authority as at 31st March 2016.

The Movement in Reserves Statement is a summary of the changes that have taken place in the bottom half of the balance sheet over the financial year.

The Cash Flow Statement which summarises the inflows and outflows of cash arising from transactions for revenue and capital purposes.

The accounts are supported by the Statement of Accounting Policies and explanatory

notes.

2. ESTABLISHMENT OF SNOWDONIA NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY

Under the provision of Section 63 of the Environment Act 1995 and The National Park Authorities (Wales) Order 1995 the Secretary of State established the Snowdonia National Park Authority on 23rd November 1995

It has the following purposes as defined by the Act:

To conserve and enhance the natural beauty , wildlife and cultural heritage, and

To promote opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of the special qualities of the (National) Park by the public.

The Authority has responsibility for planning, conservation, countryside management, access and recreation. Services such as schools, highways, social services and other Local Authority duties are carried out by the local Unitary Authority. The Act goes on to say that in pursuing National Park purposes, the National Park shall seek to foster the economic and social well being of local communities within its boundaries, and shall for that purpose co-operate with local Authorities and public bodies whose functions include the promotion of economic and social development within the area of the Park. The Authority is a local planning Authority under the Environment Act 1995 for the whole of the National Park, and is responsible for the production of the Local Development Plan and for the determination of planning applications.


Page 4 of 76

The National Park covers 2,139 square km of varied countryside including mountain, moorland, woodland and coast. About 25,702 (2011 census) people live in the National Park which receives an estimated 9.7 million visitor days each year.

Approximately 59% of the residents of the National Park are Welsh speaking. 3. APPROVED REVENUE EXPENDITURE

In determining the amount of the National Park Grant, the Welsh Government also

determines, in accordance with the National Park Authorities (Levies)(Wales) Regulations 1995 as amended, the minimum amount that can be raised by the National Park Authority for the financial year by way of levies to be borne by constituent Councils (billing authorities).

The Grant represents 75% of the total net revenue expenditure deemed appropriate by the Welsh Government for the National Park, while the remaining 25% is raised by way of the levies. A comparison of budgeted expenditure with the actual for 2015/16 is as follows:


Page 5 of 76

2015/16 REVENUE ACCOUNT

`

Revised

Budget

2015/2016

Actual

2015/2016 Variance

£ £ £

Conservation and Natural Environment 638,278 579,399 58,879

Conservation and Cultural Heritage 576,618 467,452 109,166

Understanding 1,581,561 1,491,097 90,464Recreation Management & Traffic and

Transport 472,212 314,608 157,604

Wardens, Estate Workers and Volunteers 1,274,236 1,223,193 51,043

Development Control 611,399 529,695 81,704

Forward Planning and Communities 721,955 622,524 99,431

Corporate & Democratic 674,682 619,082 55,600

Non Distributable Cost 16,000 16,000 -

NET COST OF SERVICES 6,566,941 5,863,050 703,891

Gains & losses on disposals - 44,073

Interest Earned - 17,067Net interest (Pensions adjustment) 286,000Capital grants and contributions - 578,364

NET OPERATING EXPENDITURE 5,509,546

Items debited/credited to the Authority Fund Balance - 239,600

5,269,946

FUNDED FROM

National Park Grant - 3,952,460

Levies to Constituent Councils - 1,317,486

- 5,269,946

4. REVENUE EXPENDITURE 2015/16 The Authority’s net expenditure is arrived at after deducting from gross

expenditure fees and charges, service specific grants and making other various deductions as detailed in the Income and Expenditure Account on pages 20-21.

The variance on the 2015/16 Revenue Account of £703,891 corresponds to the variance on service budget lines before transfers to/from reserves of £710,406 as reported in the “Revenue & Capital Outturn Report 2015/16” to the Authority on the 8 June 2016. The difference of -£6,515 consists of -£9,636 (removal of income on disposals to “Gains & losses on disposals”), +£12,745 (adjustment to Plas Tan y Bwlch income) and -£9,624 (accrual for redundancy cost).

5. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FUND Following the change in the Welsh Government settlement arrangements, the

Authority stipulated that for 2015/16, £157,000 of the National Park Grant be ring fenced to directly support partnership projects that develop and test ways of achieving a more sustainable way of living in Snowdonia. During the year expenditure from the


Page 6 of 76

grant-aided scheme, locally promoted as the Cronfa Arbrofol Eryri, was £124,354. (2014/15: £169,438).

6. MATERIAL ASSETS ACQUIRED AND LIABILITIES INCURRED

Assets acquired in 2015/16 were vehicles for the Planning and Land Management directorate, and items relating to the annual I.T. replacement programme. No material liabilities were incurred during the 2015/16 financial year other than the capital commitment referred to in note 11 to the Financial Statements.

7. PENSION LIABILITY Snowdonia National Park Authority is a member of the Gwynedd Pension Fund. The

accounts fully incorporate the requirements of International Accounting Standard 19 (IAS 19).

The policy reflects the commitment in the long-term to increase contributions to make

up any shortfall in attributable net assets in the pension fund. The net pension liability in the balance sheet reduces the net worth of the Authority

by £5.753m as at 31 of March 2016.

According to the Gwynedd Pension Fund’s Actuary the decrease of £3.097m in the pension liability is because of the increase in real bond yield rates. The bond rate is the discount rate used to calculate the present value of the pension benefits which will be paid in the future. If these rates fall in subsequent years the liability will increase.

8. UNUSUAL CHARGE OR CREDIT IN THE ACCOUNTS

The main credit of significance in the 2015/16 accounts relates to the decrease in pension liability as identified in note 7 above. There is a net capital receipt of £74,440 resulting from the sale of land at Aberangell.

9. CHANGE IN ACCOUNTING POLICIES The only significant change in accounting policy is that surplus assets are now valued at fair (market) value.

10. CHANGE IN STATUTORY FUNCTIONS

There have been no changes in statutory functions during 2015-16.


Page 7 of 76

11. CAPITAL EXPENDITURE 2015/16

Capital expenditure is expenditure on the acquisition of a fixed asset or expenditure which adds to and not merely maintains the value of the existing fixed asset.

Capital expenditure in the year amounted to £901k. Details of expenditure within each service area are shown in note 36. The expenditure was financed by grants and contributions from other bodies (£564k) and direct revenue financing (£337k).

All planned capital expenditure will be funded from revenue, external grants and reserves held for one off spends.

The main scheme in which the Authority was involved as at 31/3/2016 was the development of the Ysgwrn property currently estimated at a cost of circa £3.1m

12. CAPITAL FUNDING

All capital expenditure of the Authority, since being established on 23rd November 1995, has been funded by capital grants and contributions from the Government, European Community and other sources of grants, from capital receipts applied and from the Authority’s revenue resources. As at 31 March 2016 the Authority had no outstanding debts, and as such will continue to be regarded for treasury management purposes a debt-free authority.

13. SIGNIFICANT PROVISIONS / CONTINGENCIES AND MATERIAL WRITE OFFS

The General Revenue Reserve target of £400,000 was reviewed and confirmed by the Authority in the meeting on 9 December 2015. The Authority has specific Usable Reserves totalling £2,832k and these are detailed in note 21 to the financial statements.

14. REVALUATION OF ASSETS

One revaluation of a surplus asset was required during 2015/16.

15. MATERIAL EVENTS AFTER THE REPORTING DATE

The contract value for the main contractor on the Ysgwrn scheme (part 2) was reduced by £150k.


Page 8 of 76

16. CHANGE IN CLASSIFICATION IN THE COMPREHENSIVE INCOME AND EXPENDITURE

STATEMENT

The lines relevant to the Ysgwrn have been moved from “Conservation and Natural Environment” to “Conservation and Cultural Heritage” on the basis of appropriateness.

17. IMPACT OF THE CURRENT ECONOMIC CLIMATE

The Authority has balanced its budget for 2016/17 with an £18k contribution from reserves to “bridge” consistent with the recommendations approved in March 2016. Whilst measures have been considered to mitigate a further budget cut in 2017/18, it was decided to postpone any further implementation until better clarity is available following the May 2016 elections.

FURTHER INFORMATION Further information about this Statement of Account is available from:

Emyr Roberts Head of Finance Snowdonia National Park Authority National Park Offices Penrhyndeudraeth Gwynedd LL48 6LF Tel: 01766 772 225 Email: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


Page 9 of 76

THE STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS

THE AUTHORITY’S RESPONSIBILITIES The Authority is required to:-

Make arrangements for the proper administration of its financial affairs and to secure that one of its officers has the responsibility for the administration of those affairs. For Snowdonia National Park Authority, that officer is the Chief Finance Officer;

Manage its affairs to secure economic, efficient and effective use of resources and safeguard its assets;

Approve the statement of accounts. These accounts were approved by the Authority on 28 September 2016

THE CHIEF FINANCE OFFICER’S RESPONSIBILITIES The Chief Finance Officer is responsible for the preparation of the Authority’s statement of accounts in accordance with proper practices as set out in the CIPFA/LASAAC Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the United Kingdom (the CODE). In preparing this Statement of Accounts, the Chief Finance Officer has:-

Selected suitable accounting policies and then applied them consistently; Made judgements and estimates that were reasonable and prudent; Complied with the local authority CODE.

The Chief Financial Officer has also:-

Kept proper accounting records which were up to date; Taken reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other

irregularities.

CHIEF FINANCE OFFICER’S CERTIFICATE

I certify that the Statement of Accounts has been prepared in accordance with the Local Government Accounts and Audit Regulations and gives a true and fair view of the financial position of the Authority at the accounting date and its income and expenditure for the year ended 31 March 2016. Signature 16 September 2016 DAFYDD L. EDWARDS - CHIEF FINANCE OFFICER


Page 10 of 76

STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTING POLICIES

1. General Principles The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the CIPFA/LASAAC Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the United Kingdom (the CODE). The Code of Practice requires accounting policies to be applied consistently. The overriding requirement is that the Statement of Accounts “present a true and fair view” of the financial performance and position of the Authority.

2. Accounting Concepts The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the following fundamental (and pervasive) accounting principles and concepts:

Going concern

Relevance

Faithful representation

Comparability

Understandable

Materiality

Accruals

Primacy of legislative requirement These principles and concepts have been used in the selection and application of accounting policies and estimation techniques and in the exercise of professional judgement.

3. Accruals of Expenditure and Income The revenue and capital accounts of the Authority are maintained on an accruals basis. All sums due to the Authority are set up in the accounts at the time they are due.

The Debtors appearing in the balance sheet are the balances of those sums outstanding at 31st March 2016. Creditors are the amounts which are charged in the accounts for goods and services consumed or received, for which invoices had not been paid at 31st March 2016.

4. Acquired operations

No such items are applicable to the 2015/16 accounts

5. Cash and Cash Equivalents These consist of the Authority’s imprest and float accounts and cash held on “call” or short term deposit with banks where the monies are repayable without penalty on notice of not more than 24 hours.

6. Exceptional Items No such items are applicable to the 2015/16 accounts


Page 11 of 76

7. Prior period adjustments, changes in accounting policies and estimates and errors

There are no relevant material adjustments or changes impacting on the 2015/16 accounts.

8. Charges to revenue for non-current assets Services, support services and trading accounts are debited with the following amounts to record the cost of holding fixed assets during the year:

depreciation attributable to the assets used by the relevant service.

revaluation and impairment losses on assets used by the service where there are no accumulated gains in the Revaluation Reserve against which the losses can be written off.

amortisation of intangible fixed assets attributable to the service. These sums are not chargeable against the Authority’s General Fund and as such are therefore reversed out through an adjusting transaction with the Capital Adjustment Account as shown in the Movement in Reserves Statement.

9. Discontinued Operations No such items are applicable to the 2015/16 accounts (other than closure of one Information Centre at Dolgellau).

10. Employee Benefits Benefits Payable During Employment : Short-term employee benefits are those due to be settled within 12 months of the year-end. They include such benefits as wages and salaries, paid annual leave and paid sick leave, bonuses and non-monetary benefits (eg cars) for current employees and are recognised as an expense for services in the year in which employees render service to the Authority. Termination Benefits : Termination benefits are amounts payable as a result of a decision by the Authority to terminate an officer’s employment before the normal retirement date or an officer’s decision to accept voluntary redundancy and are charged on an accruals basis to the Non Distributed Costs line in the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement when the Authority is demonstrably committed to the termination of the employment of an officer or group of officers or making an offer to encourage voluntary redundancy.

11. Events After the Balance Sheet Date Events after the Balance Sheet date are those events, both favourable and unfavourable, that occur between the end of the reporting period and the date when the Statement of Accounts is authorised for issue. Two types of events can be identified:

those that provide evidence of conditions that existed at the end of the reporting period – the Statement of Accounts is adjusted to reflect such events

those that are indicative of conditions that arose after the reporting period – the Statement of Accounts is not adjusted to reflect such events, but where a category of events would have a material effect, disclosure is


Page 12 of 76

made in the notes of the nature of the events and their estimated financial effect.

Events taking place after the date of authorisation for issue are not reflected in the Statement of Accounts.

12. Financial Instruments Financial Liabilities The Authority is a debt-free Authority in that it has no borrowings. Financial Assets Financial assets are classified into two types:

loans and receivables – assets that have fixed or determinable payments but are not quoted in an active market. Such instruments relevant to the Authority are car loans made to employees (however the sums are deemed not to be material enough for inclusion).

available-for-sale assets – assets that have a quoted market price and/or do not have fixed or determinable payments. The Authority has one such asset.

13. Foreign Currency translation

Income and expenditure arising from any transactions denominated in a foreign currency is translated to £ sterling.

14. Government Grants and other Contributions Whether paid on account, by instalments or in arrears, government grants and third party contributions and donations are recognised as due to the Authority when there is reasonable assurance that:

the Authority will comply with the conditions attached to the payments, and

the grants or contributions will be received. Amounts recognised as due to the Authority are not credited to the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement until conditions attached to the grant or contribution have been satisfied. Conditions are stipulations that specify that the future economic benefits or service potential embodied in the asset acquired using the grant or contribution are required to be consumed by the recipient as specified, or future economic benefits or service potential must be returned to the transferor. Monies advanced as grants and contributions for which conditions have not been satisfied are carried in the Balance Sheet as creditors. When conditions are satisfied, the grant or contribution is credited to the relevant service line (attributable revenue grants and contributions) or Taxation and Non-Specific Grant Income (non-ring fenced revenue grants and all capital grants) in the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement. Where capital grants are credited to the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement, they are reversed out of the General Fund Balance in the Movement in Reserves Statement.


Page 13 of 76

Where the grant has yet to be used to finance capital expenditure, it is posted to the Capital Grants Unapplied reserve. Where it has been applied, it is posted to the Capital Adjustment Account. Amounts in the Capital Grants Unapplied reserve are transferred to the Capital Adjustment Account once they have been applied to fund capital expenditure.

15. Heritage Assets Heritage assets are those assets preserved in trust for future generations because of their cultural, environmental or historic associations i.e. they have historical, artistic, scientific, geophysical or environmental qualities. They are maintained by the Authority principally for their contribution to knowledge and culture, but are not utilised by the Authority in its normal course of business. Depreciation of heritage assets, where appropriate, is in line with the Authority’s general policy on depreciation.

16. Intangible Assets Purchased intangible assets in the form of software licences are accounted for as part of the Information Technology replacement programme, and are written off to revenue in line with depreciation charges.

17. Interests in Companies and Other Entities The Authority has an interest in a Limited Liability Partnership set up jointly by the 15 UK National Park Authorities for the purpose of generating income mainly from sponsorship.

18. Inventories and Long Term Contracts Stocks are brought into account at cost price for bar stocks, goods for resale and general provisions at Plas Tan y Bwlch, Study Centre, and for goods for resale at the Authority’s Information Centres. This is consistent with the policy adopted in previous years. Recommended practice requires stocks to be shown at the lower of actual cost or net realisable value but the difference in this case is not considered to be material.

19. Investment Property The Authority does not hold any such property.

20. Jointly controlled Property and Jointly Controlled Assets Following the end of the Snowdonia Uplands Footpaths Scheme, the assets acquired under that scheme are recorded in the accounts of Snowdonia National Park Authority but a proportion of these assets are in use by the National Trust. This was in lieu of the condition on the European grant funding awarded that the assets purchased are continued to be used by the partners in work related to that of the scheme. The condition has now lapsed and arrangements in place to formally transfer ownership of relevant assets to the National Trust.

21. Leases (Finance) As at 31/3/2016 the Authority has no finance lease arrangements.


Page 14 of 76

22. Leases (Operational) The Authority manages operating leases for:

Vehicles,

Photocopiers and snacks & drinks machines.

Land and buildings Lease payments are charged in full according to date payable on a straight line basis, ensuring an equal annual charge to service revenue accounts throughout the life of the lease. The Authority rents a number of properties in support of its services, and also receives rental income from a number of owned properties. The owned properties are held as fixed assets in the balance sheet. The lease income is accounted for on a straight line basis.

23. Overheads and Support Services

The costs of overheads and support services are charged to those that benefit from the supply or service in accordance with the costing principles of the CIPFA Best Value Accounting Code of Practice 2015/16 (BVACOP). The total absorption costing principle is used – the full cost of overheads and support services are shared between users in proportion to the benefits received, with the exception of:

Corporate and Democratic Core – costs relating to the Authority’s status as a multifunctional, democratic organisation.

Non Distributed Costs – past service costs relating to the Pension Fund. These two cost categories are defined in BVACOP and accounted for as separate headings in the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement, as part of Net Expenditure on Continuing Services.

24. Property, Plant and Equipment Assets that have physical substance and are held for use in the production or supply of goods or services, for rental to others, or for administrative purposes and that are expected to be used during more than one financial year are classified as Property, Plant and Equipment. Recognition: Expenditure on the acquisition, creation or enhancement of Property, Plant and Equipment is capitalised on an accruals basis, provided that it is probable that the future economic benefits or service potential associated with the item will flow to the Authority and the cost of the item can be measured reliably. Expenditure that maintains but does not add to an asset’s potential to deliver future economic benefits or service potential (ie repairs and maintenance) is charged as an expense when it is incurred. Measurement: Assets are initially measured at cost, comprising: the purchase price any costs attributable to bringing the asset to the location and condition

necessary for it to be capable of operating in the manner intended by management (the initial estimate of the costs of dismantling and removing the item and restoring the site on which it is located.)


Page 15 of 76

The cost of assets acquired other than by purchase is deemed to be its fair value, unless the acquisition does not have commercial substance (i.e. it will not lead to a variation in the cash flows of the Authority). In the latter case, where an asset is acquired via an exchange, the cost of the acquisition is the carrying amount of the asset given up by the Authority. Where gains are credited to the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement, they are reversed out of the General Fund Balance to the Capital Adjustment Account in the Movement in Reserves Statement. Assets are then carried in the Balance Sheet using the following measurement bases:

infrastructure, community assets and assets under construction – depreciated historical cost where known

Non-operational assets (surplus assets) - measured at fair (market) value.

all other assets – service potential at existing use value (EUV), determined as the amount that would be paid for the asset in its existing use.

Where there is no market-based evidence of fair value or existing use value because of the specialist nature of an asset, depreciated replacement cost (DRC) is used as an estimate of the value.

Where non-property assets that have short useful lives or low values (or both), depreciated historical cost basis is used as a proxy for fair value. Other than for information systems equipment, a de minimis level of £10,000 has been used for the recognition of non-current assets. Assets included in the Balance Sheet at fair value are revalued sufficiently regularly to ensure that their carrying amount is not materially different from their fair value at the year-end, but as a minimum every five years. Increases in valuations are matched by credits to the Revaluation Reserve to recognise unrealised gains. [Exceptionally, gains might be credited to the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement where they arise from the reversal of a loss previously charged to a service.] Where decreases in value are identified, they are accounted for by: o where there is a balance of revaluation gains for the asset in the Revaluation

Reserve, the carrying amount of the asset is written down against that balance (up to the amount of the accumulated gains)

o where there is no balance in the Revaluation Reserve or an insufficient balance, the carrying amount of the asset is written down against the relevant service line(s) in the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement.

The Revaluation Reserve contains revaluation gains recognised since 1 April 2007 only, the date of its formal implementation. Gains arising before that date have been consolidated into the Capital Adjustment Account.

Componentisation :The Authority has applied the componentisation principle to those assets valued at £150,000 or over and where the difference in depreciation cost is identified as being material. This principle is applied in order that those elements of a property that have different operational lives and thereby differing rates of depreciation are recognised and accounted for.


Page 16 of 76

Impairment: Assets are assessed at each year-end as to whether there is any indication that an asset may be impaired. Where indications exist and any possible differences are estimated to be material, the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated and, where this is less than the carrying amount of the asset, an impairment loss is recognised for the shortfall. Where impairment losses are identified, they are accounted for by:

where there is a balance of revaluation gains for the asset in the Revaluation Reserve, the carrying amount of the asset is written down against that balance (up to the amount of the accumulated gains)

where there is no balance in the Revaluation Reserve or an insufficient balance, the carrying amount of the asset is written down against the relevant service line(s) in the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement.

Where an impairment loss is reversed subsequently, the reversal is credited to the relevant service line(s) in the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement, up to the amount of the original loss, adjusted for depreciation that would have been charged if the loss had not been recognised. Depreciation: Depreciation is provided for on all Property, Plant and Equipment assets by the systematic allocation of their depreciable amounts over their useful lives. An exception is made for assets without a determinable finite useful life (i.e. freehold land and certain Community Assets) and assets that are not yet available for use (i.e. assets under construction). Neither investment assets nor assets held for sale are depreciated. Deprecation is calculated on the following bases:

buildings – straight-line allocation over the useful life of the property as estimated by the valuer

vehicles, plant, furniture and equipment – a percentage of the value of each class of assets in the Balance Sheet, as advised by a suitably qualified officer

Where an item of Property, Plant and Equipment asset has major components whose cost is significant in relation to the total cost of the item, the components are depreciated separately. Revaluation gains are also depreciated, with an amount equal to the difference between current value depreciation charged on assets and the depreciation that would have been chargeable based on their historical cost being transferred each year from the Revaluation Reserve to the Capital Adjustment Account. Disposals and Non-current Assets Held for Sale When it becomes probable that the carrying amount of an asset will be recovered principally through a sale transaction rather than through its continuing use, it is reclassified as an Asset Held for Sale. The asset is revalued immediately before reclassification and then carried at the lower of this amount and fair value less costs to sell. Where there is a subsequent decrease to fair value less costs to sell, the loss is posted to the Other Operating Expenditure line in the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement. Gains in fair value are recognised only up to the amount of any previously losses recognised in the Surplus or Deficit on Provision of Services.


Page 17 of 76

If assets no longer meet the criteria to be classified as Assets Held for Sale, they are reclassified back to non-current assets and valued at the lower of their carrying amount before they were classified as held for sale; adjusted for depreciation, amortisation or revaluations that would have been recognised had they not been classified as Held for Sale, and their recoverable amount at the date of the decision not to sell. Assets that are to be abandoned or scrapped are not reclassified as Assets Held for Sale. When an asset is disposed of or decommissioned, the carrying amount of the asset in the Balance Sheet (whether Property, Plant and Equipment or Assets Held for Sale) is written off to the Other Operating Expenditure line in the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement as part of the gain or loss on disposal. Receipts from disposals (if any) are credited to the same line in the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement also as part of the gain or loss on disposal (i.e. netted off against the carrying value of the asset at the time of disposal). Any revaluation gains accumulated for the asset in the Revaluation Reserve are transferred to the Capital Adjustment Account. Amounts received for a disposal in excess of £10,000 are categorised as capital receipts. The balance of receipts is required to be credited to the Capital Receipts Reserve, and can then only be used for new capital investment [or set aside to reduce the Authority’s underlying need to borrow (the capital financing requirement)]. Receipts are appropriated to the Reserve from the General Fund Balance in the Movement in Reserves Statement. The written-off value of disposals is not a charge against the General Fund. These amounts are appropriated to the Capital Adjustment Account from the General Fund Balance in the Movement in Reserves Statement.

25. Provisions, contingent liabilities and contingent assets Provisions are made where an event has taken place that gives the Authority a legal or constructive obligation that probably requires settlement by a transfer of economic benefits or service potential, and a reliable estimate can be made of the amount of the obligation. For instance, the Authority may be involved in a court case that could eventually result in the making of a settlement or the payment of compensation. Provisions Provisions are charged as an expense to the appropriate service line in the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement in the year that the Authority becomes aware of the obligation, and are measured at the best estimate at the balance sheet date of the expenditure required to settle the obligation, taking into account relevant risks and uncertainties.

Contingent Liabilities A contingent liability arises where an event has taken place that gives the Authority a possible obligation whose existence will only be confirmed by the


Page 18 of 76

occurrence or otherwise of uncertain future events not wholly within the control of the authority. Contingent liabilities also arise in circumstances where a provision would otherwise be made but either it is not probable that an outflow of resources will be required or the amount of the obligation cannot be measured reliably. Contingent liabilities are not recognised in the Balance Sheet but disclosed in a note to the accounts. Contingent Assets A contingent asset arises where an event has taken place that gives the Authority a possible asset whose existence will only be confirmed by the occurrence or otherwise of uncertain future events not wholly within the control of the authority. Contingent assets are not recognised in the Balance Sheet but disclosed in a note to the accounts where it is probable that there will be an inflow of economic benefits or service potential.

26. Reserves The Authority sets aside specific amounts as reserves for future policy purposes or to cover contingencies. Reserves are created by appropriating amounts out of the General Fund Balance in the Movement in Reserves Statement. When expenditure to be financed from a reserve is incurred, it is charged to the appropriate service in that year to score against the Surplus or Deficit on the Provision of Services in the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement. The reserve is then appropriated back into the General Fund Balance in the Movement in Reserves Statement so that there is no net charge against the General Fund for the expenditure. Certain reserves are kept to manage the accounting processes for non-current assets, financial instruments, retirement and employee benefits and do not represent usable resources for the Authority – these reserves are explained in the relevant policies.

27. Revenue Expenditure Funded From Capital Under Statute Expenditure incurred during the year that may be capitalised under statutory provisions but that does not result in the creation of a non-current asset has been charged as expenditure to the relevant service in the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement in the year. Where the Authority has determined to meet the cost of this expenditure from existing capital resources or by borrowing, a transfer in the Movement in Reserves Statement from the General Fund Balance to the Capital Adjustment Account then reverses out the amounts charged so that there is no impact on the General Fund Balance.


Page 19 of 76

28. Value Added Tax VAT payable is included as an expense only to the extent that it is not recoverable from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. VAT receivable is excluded from income. The Authority supplies :

Some services which are exempt of VAT (e.g. providing educational courses at Plas Tan y Bwlch, renting out land & buildings without opting to tax etc.,), and

Other goods and services which are not exempt of VAT (e.g. bar sales at Plas Tan y Bwlch, sale of trees etc.,)

The Authority, therefore, falls within the scope of VAT Partial Exemption regulations (including at present the capital goods scheme). As such the Authority is unable to recover all the input tax incurred. It is the Authority’s practice to include all input tax which cannot be recovered from H.M. Revenue and Customs within the costs of relevant services.


Page 20 of 76

THE COMPREHENSIVE INCOME AND EXPENDITURE STATEMENT This statement shows the accounting cost in the year of providing services in accordance with generally accepted accounting practices.

2014/15

Gross

Expenditure

£'000

2014/15

Gross

Income

£'000

2014/15

Net

Expenditure

£'000

2015/16

Gross

Expenditure

£'000

2015/16

Gross

Income

£'000

2015/16

Net

Expenditure

£'000Conservation and Natural

Environment

214 - 5 209

Natural Environment and

Forestry 0 0 0

900 - 351 549

Conservation and

Agriculture 737 -158 579

1,114 -356 758 737 -158 579

Conservation and Cultural

Heritage

258 0 258 Built Environment 367 -29 338

266 -162 104 THI Dolgellau 0 0 0

95 -10 85 Archaeology 104 -12 92

19 -4 15 Ysgwrn 71 -8 63

13 -6 7 Ysgwrn (HLF scheme part1) 0 0 0

17 -19 -2 Ysgwrn (HLF scheme part2) 105 -132 -27

6 0 6 Bwrlwm Eryri 1 0 1

674 -201 473 648 -181 467

Understanding

1,346 -544 802 Study Centre 1,297 -673 624

509 -8 501 Information & Education 585 -28 557

433 -135 298 Information Centres 444 -134 310

2,288 - 687 1,601 2,326 - 835 1,491

Recreation Management &

Traffic and Transport

367 -133 234 Access 498 -36 462

266 -149 117 General Visitor Facilities 309 -147 162

0 0 0 Hafod Eryri 7 0 7

196 -483 -287 Car Parks 195 -502 -307

72 -57 15 Llyn Tegid Management 33 -55 -22

11 0 11 Litter Collection 13 0 13

2 0 2 Tourism Projects 0 0 0

914 - 822 92 1,055 - 740 315

4,990 -2,066 2,924 Net Cost of Service c/fd 4,766 -1,914 2,852


Page 21 of 76

THE COMPREHENSIVE INCOME AND EXPENDITURE STATEMENT (CONTINUED)

2014/15

Gross

Expenditure

£'000

2014/15

Gross

Income

£'000

2014/15

Net

Expenditure

£'000

2015/16

Gross

Expenditure

£'000

2015/16

Gross

Income

£'000

2015/16

Net

Expenditure

£'000

4,990 -2,066 2,924 Net Cost of Service b/fd 4,766 -1,914 2,852

Wardens, Estate Workers &

Volunteers

789 -3 786 Wardens (and volunteers) 860 -3 857

461 -36 425 Estate Workers 381 -15 366

1,250 - 39 1,211 1,241 - 18 1,223

697 - 206 491 Development Control 755 - 225 530

Forward Planning and

Communities

420 - 40 380 Strategic Plans and Policy 378 0 378

280 0 280

Community and Environment

(incl. CAE) 245 0 245

700 - 40 660 623 0 623

593 -3 590 Corporate & Democratic 622 -3 619

82 0 82 Non-distributable Costs 16 0 16

8,312 - 2,354 5,958 Net Cost of Service 8,023 - 2,160 5,863

-1

Other Operating Expenditure

(note 8) -44

224

Financing and Investment

Income and Expenditure

(note 9) 269

-5,505

Non-specific grant income

(note 10) -5,848

676

Surplus (-) / Deficit on

Provision of Services for

the year 240

-9

Net surplus on revaluation of

fixed assets and impairment

losses charged to the

revaluation reserve (note 22) 57

3,153

Actuarial gains / losses on

pension assets/liabilities

(note 44) -3,598

3,144

Other Comprehensive

Income and Expenditure -3,541

3,820

Total Comprehensive

Income and Expenditure -3,301


Page 22 of 76

BALANCE SHEET The Balance Sheet shows the value as at the Balance Sheet date of the assets and liabilities recognised by the Authority. The net assets of the Authority (assets less liabilities) are matched by the reserves held by the Authority. Reserves are reported in two categories. The first category of reserves are usable reserves, i.e. those reserves that the Authority may use to provide services, subject to the need to maintain a prudent level of reserves and any statutory limitations on their use (for example the Capital Receipts Reserve that may only be used to fund capital expenditure or repay debt). The second category of reserves is those that the Authority is not able to use to provide services. This category of reserves includes reserves that hold unrealised gains and losses (for example the Revaluation Reserve) where amounts would only become available to provide services if the assets are sold; and reserves that hold timing differences shown in the Movement in Reserves Statement line “Adjustments between accounting basis and funding basis under regulations”.

2014/15 Notes 2015/16

£'000 £'000

16,065 Property,Plant & Equipment 11 16,064

656 Heritage Assets 12 653

26 Long Term Debtors 17 58

16,747 Long Term Assets 16,775

40 Assets Held for Sale 14 0

410 Short term investments 15 501

102 Inventories 16 119

729 Short Term Debtors 17 610

2,123 Cash and Cash Equivalents 18 2,419

3,404 Current Assets 3,649

-945 Short Term Creditors 19 -1,014

-945 Current Liabilities -1,014

-8,850 Pension Fund liability 44 -5,753

-8,850 Long Term Liabilities -5,753

10,356 Net Assets 13,657

2,558 Usable Reserves 21 2,832

7,798 Unusable Reserves 22 10,825

10,356 Total Reserves 13,657


Page 23 of 76

THE MOVEMENT IN RESERVES STATEMENT This statement shows the movement in the year on the different reserves held by the Authority, analysed into “Usable reserves” (i.e. those that can be applied to fund expenditure) and other reserves. The Surplus (+) or Deficit (-) on the Provision of Services line shows the true economic cost of providing the Authority’s services, more details of which are shown in the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement. These are different from the statutory amounts required to be charged to the General Fund Balance. The Net Increase/Decrease before Transfers to Earmarked Reserves line shows the statutory General Fund Balance before any discretionary transfers to or from earmarked reserves undertaken by the Authority.

Movement in Reserves

during 2014/15

Genera

l Fund

Bala

nce

Earm

ark

ed

Reserv

es

Capita

l

Receip

ts

Reserv

e

Capita

l Gra

nts

Unapplie

d

Reserv

e

To

tal U

su

ab

le

Reserv

es

Unusable

Reserv

es

To

tal

Au

tho

rity

Reserv

es

£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Balance as at 31 March

2014 brought forward 400 1,884 24 0 2,309 11,867 14,176

Surplus or (deficit) on the

provision of service -676 0 0 0 -676 0 -676

Other Comprehensive

Income and Expenditure 0 0 0 0 0 -3,144 -3,144

Total Comprehensive

Income and Expenditure -676 0 0 0 -676 -3,144 -3,820

Adjustments between

accounting basis &

funding basis under

regulations (note 6) 736 0 95 94 925 -925 0

Net Increase/Decrease

before transfers to

Earmarked Reserves 60 0 95 94 249 -4,069 -3,820

Transfers to/from

earmarked reserves (Note

7) -60 60 0 0 0 0 0

Increase / Decrease in

2014/15 0 60 95 94 249 -4,069 -3,820


2015 carried forward 400 1,944 119 94 2,558 7,798 10,356


Page 24 of 76

MOVEMENT IN RESERVES STATEMENT (CONTINUED)

Movement in Reserves

during 2015/16

Genera

l F

und

Bala

nce

Earm

ark

ed

Reserv

es

Capital

Receip

ts

Reserv

e

Capital G

rants

Unapplie

d

Reserv

e

To

tal U

su

ab

le

Reserv

es

Unusable

Reserv

es

To

tal

Au

tho

rity

Reserv

es

£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000


2015 brought forward 400 1,944 119 94 2,558 7,798 10,356

Surplus or (deficit) on the

provision of service -240 0 0 0 -240 0 -240

Other Comprehensive

Income and Expenditure 0 0 0 0 0 3,541 3,541

Total Comprehensive

Income and Expenditure -240 0 0 0 -240 3,541 3,301

Adjustments between

accounting basis & funding

basis under regulations

(note 6) 423 0 75 16 514 -514 0

Net Increase/Decrease

before transfers to

Earmarked Reserves 183 0 75 16 274 3,027 3,301

Transfers to/from

earmarked reserves (Note

7) -183 183 0 0 0 0 0

Increase / Decrease in

2015/16 0 183 75 16 274 3,027 3,301


2016 carried forward 400 2,127 194 110 2,832 10,825 13,657


Page 25 of 76

CASH FLOW STATEMENT

The Cash Flow Statement shows the changes in cash and cash equivalents of the Authority during the reporting period. The statement shows how the Authority generates and uses cash and cash equivalents by classifying cash flows as operating, investing and financing activities. The amount of net cash flows arising from operating activities is a key indicator of the extent to which the operations of the Authority are funded by way of grant and levy income or from the recipients of services provided by the Authority. Investing activities represent the extent to which cash outflows have been made for resources which are intended to contribute to the Authority’s future service delivery. Cash flows arising from financing activities are useful in predicting claims on future cash flows by providers of capital (i.e. borrowing) to the Authority.

2014/15 2015/16

£'000 £'000

676

Net (surplus) or deficit on the provision of

services 240

-796

Adjustments to net surplus or deficit on the provision

of services for non-cash movements (note 23) -1,233

250

Adjustments for items included in the net surplus or

deficit on the provision of services that are

investing and financing activities 634

130 Net cash flows from Operating Activities -359

251 Investing Activities (note 24) 33

-1 Financing Activities (note 25) 30

380

Net increase (-) or decrease (+) in cash and cash

equivalents -296

2,503

Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the

reporting period 2,123

2,123

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the

reporting period 2,419


Page 26 of 76

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

1. ACCOUNTING STANDARDS THAT HAVE BEEN ISSUED BUT HAVE NOT YET BEEN ADOPTED The Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the United Kingdom (the Code) requires the disclosure of information relating to the expected impact of an accounting change that will be required by a new standard that has been issued but not yet adopted. This applies to the adoption of the following new or amended standards within the 2016/17 Code which could impact upon the Authority.

Amendments to IAS19 Employee Benefits (Defined Benefit Plans : Employee Contributions)

Annual Improvements to IFRSs 2010-2012

Amendment to IFRS 11 Joint Arrangements (Accounting for Acquisitions of Interests in Joint operations)

Amendment to IAS16 Property, Plant & Equipment and IAS 38 Intangible Assets Annual Improvements to IFRSs 2012-2014

Amendment to IAS1 Presentation of Financial Statements (Disclosure Initiative)

The Changes to the format of the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement, the Movement in Reserves Statement and the Introduction of the New Expenditure and Funding Analysis

The Changes to the format of the Pension Fund Account and the Net Assets Statement.

The Code does not anticipate that the above amendments will have a material impact on the information provided in local authority financial statements i.e. there is unlikely to be a change in reported information in the reported net cost of services or the Surplus or Deficit on the Provision of Services. However, in the 2016/17 year the comparator 2015/16 Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement and the Movement in Reserves Statement must reflect the new formats and reporting requirements as a result of the Telling the Story review of the presentation of local authority financial statements.

2. CRITICAL JUDGEMENTS IN APPLYING ACCOUNTING POLICIES None, other than disclosed elsewhere in these notes.

3. ASSUMPTIONS MADE ABOUT THE FUTURE AND OTHER MAJOR SOURCES OF ESTIMATION

UNCERTAINTY

The Statement of Accounts contains estimated figures that are based on assumptions made by the Authority about the future or that are otherwise uncertain. Estimates are made taking into account historical experience, current trends and other relevant factors. However, because balances cannot be determined with certainty, actual results could be materially different from the assumptions and estimates.


Page 27 of 76

Those assumptions made by the Actuary relating to the pension fund are disclosed in note 44.

4. MATERIAL ITEMS OF INCOME AND EXPENSE There is an decrease of £3.097m in the pension liability due to the change in financial assumptions (further detail in note 44).

5. EVENTS AFTER THE BALANCE SHEET DATE

The only event of note relevant to the 2015/16 accounts is that the value of the contract with the main contractor on the Ysgwrn (part 2) scheme has been reduced by £150k.

6. ADJUSTMENTS BETWEEN ACCOUNTING BASIS AND FUNDING BASIS UNDER REGULATIONS

This note details the adjustments that are made in the total comprehensive income and expenditure recognised by the Authority in the year in accordance with proper accounting practice to the resources that are specified by statutory provisions as being available to the Authority to meet future capital and revenue expenditure.


Page 28 of 76

Gen

era

l F

un

d

Bala

nce

Earm

ark

ed

Reserv

es

Cap

ital

Receip

ts

Reserv

es

Cap

ital

Gra

nts

Un

ap

pli

ed

Reserv

e

Mo

vem

en

t in

Un

usab

le

Reserv

es

£'0

00

£'0

00

£'0

00

£'0

00

£'0

00

ADJUSTMENTS PRIMARILY INVOLVING THE CAPITAL ADJUSTMENT ACCOUNT

Reversal of items debited or credited to the

Comprehensive Income and Expenditure

Statement

Charges for depreciation, impairment and

revaluation losses on non-current assets 524 0 0 0 -524

Capital grants and contributions applied -30 0 0 0 30

Revenue Expenditure funded from capital under

statute 184 0 0 0 -184Amounts of non-current assets written off on

disposal or sale as part of the gain/loss on disposal

to the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure

Statement 210 0 0 0 -210

Insertion of items not debited or credited to the


Statement

Capital expenditure charges against the General

Fund -167 0 0 0 167

ADJUSTMENT PRIMARILY INVOLVING THE CAPITAL GRANTS UNAPPLIED ACCOUNT

Capital Grants and Contributions Unapplied credited


Statement -94 94 0

ADJUSTMENT PRIMARILY INVOLVING THE CAPITAL RECEIPTS RESERVE

Transfer of cash sale proceeds credited as part of

the gain/loss on disposal to the CIES -205 205 0

Use of the Capital Receipts reserve to finance new

capital expenditure 0 0 -110 0 110

ADJUSTMENTS PRIMARILY INVOLVING THE PENSION RESERVE

Reversal of items relating to retirement benefits

debited or credited to the Comprehensive Income

and Expenditure Statement 1069 0 0 0 -1069

Employers Pension contributions and direct

payments to pensioners payable in the year. -756 0 0 0 756

ADJUSTMENT PRIMARILY INVOLVING THE ACCUMULATED ABSENCES ACCOUNT

Amount by which officer remuneration charged to

the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure

Statement on an accruals basis is different from

remuneration chargeable in the year in accordance

with statutory requirements 1 0 0 0 -1

TOTAL ADJUSTMENTS 736 0 95 94 -925

Usable Reserves

2014/15


Page 29 of 76

Gen

era

l F

un

d

Bala

nce

Earm

ark

ed

Reserv

es

Cap

ital

Receip

ts

Reserv

es

Cap

ital

Gra

nts

Un

ap

pli

ed

Reserv

e

Mo

vem

en

t in

Un

usab

le

Reserv

es

£'0

00

£'0

00

£'0

00

£'0

00

£'0

00

ADJUSTMENTS PRIMARILY INVOLVING THE CAPITAL ADJUSTMENT ACCOUNT

Reversal of items debited or credited to the


Statement

Charges for depreciation, impairment and

revaluation losses on non-current assets 491 0 0 0 -491

Capital grants and contributions applied -468 0 0 0 468

Revenue Expenditure funded from capital under

statute 346 0 0 0 -346Amounts of non-current assets written off on

disposal or sale as part of the gain/loss on disposal


Statement 49 0 0 0 -49

Insertion of items not debited or credited to the


Statement

Capital grant received in 2014/15 and used in

2015/16 -94 94

Capital expenditure charges against the General

Fund -337 0 0 0 337

ADJUSTMENT PRIMARILY INVOLVING THE CAPITAL GRANTS UNAPPLIED ACCOUNT

Capital Grants and Contributions Unapplied credited


Statement -110 110 0

ADJUSTMENT PRIMARILY INVOLVING THE CAPITAL RECEIPTS RESERVE

Transfer of cash sale proceeds credited as part of

the gain/loss on disposal to the CIES -75 75 0

ADJUSTMENTS PRIMARILY INVOLVING THE PENSION RESERVE

Reversal of items relating to retirement benefits

debited or credited to the Comprehensive Income

and Expenditure Statement 1205 0 0 0 -1205

Employers Pension contributions and direct

payments to pensioners payable in the year. -704 0 0 0 704

ADJUSTMENT PRIMARILY INVOLVING THE ACCUMULATED ABSENCES ACCOUNT

Amount by which officer remuneration charged to


Statement on an accruals basis is different from

remuneration chargeable in the year in accordance

with statutory requirements 26 0 0 0 -26

TOTAL ADJUSTMENTS 423 0 75 16 -514

Usable Reserves

2015/16


Page 30 of 76

7. TRANSFERS TO/FROM EARMARKED RESERVES

Bala

nce a

t

31 M

arc

h

2015

Tra

nsfe

rs o

ut

2015/1

6

Tra

nsfe

rs in

2015/1

6

Bala

nce a

t

31 M

arc

h

2016

£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Earmarked reserve 359 -359 516 516

Specific Risks reserve 401 -122 114 393

Capital projects reserve 168 -35 0 133

Self-Insurance reserve 13 -13 0 0

Planning reserve 200 0 0 200

Match funding reserve 450 -76 45 419

Match funding reserve (NRW) 9 0 0 9

Revenue Grants reserve 9 0 68 77

Bequest reserve 30 0 0 30

Pen y Pass Income reserve 126 0 5 131

Section 106 reserve 115 0 40 155

Car Park income reserve 28 0 0 28

Green Key reserve 36 0 0 36

1,944 -605 788 2,127

8. OTHER OPERATING EXPENDITURE

2014/15 2015/16

£’000 £’000

-1 Gains/losses on disposal of non-current assets

-44

9. FINANCING AND INVESTMENT INCOME AND EXPENDITURE

2014/15 2015/16

£’000 £’000

233 Net interest on the net defined benefit liability (asset)

286

-14 Interest receivable and similar income -17

5 Disposal costs on Porth Gwyn 0

224 Total 269


Page 31 of 76

10. NON-SPECIFIC GRANT INCOME

2014/15 2015/16

£’000 £’000

-4,110 National Park Grant -3,952

-1,365 Levies on Constituent Authorities

-1,318

-30 Capital Grants and Contributions

-578

-5,505 Total -5,848

11. PROPERTY PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

Movement on Balances

2014/15

La

nd

an

d

Bu

ild

ing

s

Ve

hic

les,

Pla

nt

& E

qu

ipm

en

t

Co

mm

un

ity

Su

rplu

s A

sse

ts

Ass

ets

un

de

r

Co

nst

ruct

ion

To

tal

£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Cost or valuation

At 1 April 2014 17,309 1,794 142 67 0 19,312

Additions 48 75 0 0 0 123

Disposals 0 -42 0 0 0 -42Revaluation to CIES 0 0 0 1 0 1Revaluation to Rev.

Reserve 0 0 0 39 0 39Other movements 0 -53 0 -40 0 -93

At 31 March 2015 17,357 1,774 142 67 0 19,340`

Accumulated Depreciation and Impairments

At 1 April 2014 -1,359 -1,424 -34 -1 0 -2,818

Depreciation Charge -365 -130 0 0 0 -495

Derecognition - Disposals 0 42 0 0 0 42Other movements in

Depreciation and

Impairment 0 44 0 0 0 44write back on revaluation

- to revaluation reserve -30 0 0 0 0 -30- to surplus/deficit on

provision of services -18 0 0 0 0 -18

At 31 March 2015 -1,772 -1,468 -34 -1 0 -3,275

Net BookValue at March

2015 15,585 306 108 66 0 16,065


Page 32 of 76

2015/16

La

nd

an

d

Bu

ild

ing

s

Ve

hic

les,

Pla

nt

& E

qu

ipm

en

t

Co

mm

un

ity

Su

rplu

s A

sse

ts

Ass

ets

un

de

r

Co

nst

ruct

ion

To

tal

£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Cost or valuation

At 1 April 2015 17,357 1,774 142 67 0 19,340

Additions 0 85 0 0 468 553

Disposals 0 -30 0 0 0 -30Revaluation to CIES 0 0 0 -9 0 -9Revaluation to Rev.

Reserve 0 0 0 -57 0 -57Other movements 0 0 0 0 0 0

At 31 March 2016 17,357 1,829 142 1 468 19,797`

Accumulated Depreciation and Impairments

At 1 April 2015 -1,772 -1,468 -34 -1 0 -3,275

Depreciation Charge -366 -122 0 0 0 -488

Derecognition - Disposals 0 30 0 0 0 30Other movements in

Depreciation and

Impairment 0 0 0 0 0 0write back on revaluation

- to revaluation reserve 0 0 0 0 0 0- to surplus/deficit on

provision of services 0 0 0 0 0 0

At 31 March 2016 -2,138 -1,560 -34 -1 0 -3,733

Net BookValue at March

2016 15,219 269 108 0 468 16,064

Depreciation Depreciation of fixed assets is charged on a straight line basis to write off their cost less any projected residual value in equal instalments over the expected useful life of the asset using the following bases:- Operational Land & Property : between 10 – 60 years Community Assets : nil Information Systems Equipment : 3 years Vehicles : over 5 years to 30% of original value

over 7 years to nil value. Furniture & Other Equipment : estimated operational life

Revaluations

The Authority’s land and buildings are valued every 5 years. The previous overall valuation was undertaken in 2011/12 with specific additions in subsequent years revalued by an independent qualified valuer. In 2015/16 the Parc Lead Mine land was revalued in accordance with the new Code of Practice requirement. This resulted in


Page 33 of 76

deleting a book value of £66,500, with £9,250 of that cost going to Visitor Facilities and £57,250 showing against “Net deficit on revaluation of fixed assets and impairment losses charged to the revaluation reserve” in the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement. The Authority has the following capital commitments on tendered contracts as at 31/3/2016 budgeted to cost £1,813k (corresponding commitments at 31/3/2015 were worth £377k) :

Management Fee re Ysgwrn HLF scheme £146k Main contractor on Phase I works – Ysgwrn HLF scheme £302k

(including retention of £8,454) Main contractor on Phase 2 works – Ysgwrn HLF scheme £1,366k

(There was a reduction in the value of £150k on the contract with the main contractor on phase 2 works of the Ysgwrn scheme after 31/3/16 to come to the figure £1,366k)

12. HERITAGE ASSETS The Authority’s classification of tangible heritage assets relates to :

Ynys y Pandy Slate Mill - a listed building with no operational use, and removed from the land and buildings valuation in 2011/12 due to being below the de-minimis level.

Craig Yr Aderyn - a Site of Special Scientific Interest and retained for its environmental qualities.

Yr Ysgwrn - home of the poet Hedd Wyn having been purchased to protect its cultural heritage. (Although there has been building work on the site during 2015/16, no building has been demolished and none completed by 31/3/2016).

All Heritage Assets have been valued at existing use value.

There have been no revaluations during 2015/16.

Ynys y Pandy

Slate Mill

Craig yr

Aderyn Ysgwrn Total

(£'000) (£'000) (£'000) (£'000)

Cost or valuation

31 March 2014 0 13 646 659

Depreciation charge 0 0 -3 -3

31 March 2015 0 13 643 656

Depreciation charge 0 0 -3 -3

31 March 2016 0 13 640 653

13. INTANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

Purchased intangible assets in the form of software licences are accounted for as part of the Information Technology replacement programme, and are written off to revenue in line with depreciation charges. The value of these intangible assets is


Page 34 of 76

deemed such that a disclosure separate from Vehicles, Plant and Equipment is unwarranted.

14. ASSETS HELD FOR SALE

As at 31/3/2016 there are no assets held for sale. (On 31/3/2015 Aberangell amenity site was held for sale).

15. SHORT TERM INVESTMENTS

As at 31/3/2016 all of the Authority’s deposits are repayable on demand and without loss of interest apart from £501k on a 95 day deposit with Santander UK. (£410k as at 31/3/2015).

16. INVENTORIES Stocks are brought into account at cost price. Stocks held on 31st March 2016

consisted of :-

Inform.

Centres Access Access Admin. Total

Goods for

resale

Snowdon

Maps Bar

Goods

for

resale

Catering

&

Cleaning

Stones &

heli-bags

Protective

Clothing

£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Balance as at

31/3/2015 64 0 4 2 4 23 5 102

Purchases 87 12 12 9 88 0 9 217

Recognised as

an expense in

the year -72 -4 -13 -2 -89 -10 -10 -200

Balance as at

31/3/2016 79 8 3 9 3 13 4 119

Plas Tan y Bwlch


Page 35 of 76

17. DEBTORS

2014/15 2015/16

£'000 £'000

Amounts falling due within one year :413 Central Government Bodies 289

16 Other local authorities 402 Public corporations & trading funds 0

298 Other entities and individuals 281729 610

LONG TERM DEBTORS (amounts falling due after one year)

26 Car Loans to Employees 5826 58

18. CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS The balance of Cash and Cash Equivalents is made up of the following elements :

31 March 2015

31 March 2016

£’000 £’000

8 Cash held by the Authority 12

893 Bank current accounts 652

1,222 Short-term deposits with banks 1,755

2,123 Total Cash and Cash Equivalents 2,419

19. CREDITORS

2014/15 2015/16

£'000 £'000

-108 Central Govt. Bodies -99

-145 Other local authorities -155

-692 Other entities & individuals -760

-945 -1,014 20. PROVISIONS

The Authority has no such items as at 31/3/2016.


Page 36 of 76

21. USABLE RESERVES Movements in the Authority’s usable reserves are as noted in the Movement in Reserves Statement.

2014/15 2015/16

£'000 £'000

Revenue

359

Earmarked Revenue & Capital reserves

(Amount approved as earmarked revenue and

capital expenditure)

516

401 Specific Risks Reserve (to meet probable

budget pressures )393

168 Capital projects reserve (to fund one -off capital

committments)133

200 Planning Reserve

(To meet costs of Public Inquiry)200

450 Match Funding Revenue Reserve

(For Convergence Fund Purposes)419

9 Match Funding Reserve - NRW

(For Convergence Fund purposes)9

13 Insurance Reserve

(To meet self-insured liabilities)0

115 Section 106 Reserve 155

30 Bequest 30

126 Pen y Pass Income Reserve 131

28 Car Park Income Reserve 28

36 Green Key Reserve 36

9 Revenue grants (rec'd in advance) Reserve 77

1944 2127

400 General reserve 400

2,344 2,527

Capital

94 Capital Grants Unapplied 110

120 Usable Capital Receipts Reserves : 195

2,558 2,832

22. UNUSABLE RESERVES

2014/15 2015/16

£'000 £'000

7,943 Revaluation Reserve 7,713

8,826 Capital Adjustments Account 9,012

-8,850 Pensions Reserve -5,753

-121 Accumulated Absences Account -147

7,798 10,825


Page 37 of 76

THE REVALUATION RESERVE

The Revaluation Reserve contains the gains made by the Authority arising from increases in the value of its Property, Plant and Equipment (and Intangible Assets). The balance is reduced when assets with accumulated gains are:

Revalued downwards or impaired and the gains are lost,

Used in the provision of services and the gains are consumed through depreciation, or

Disposed of and the gains are realised The reserve contains only revaluation gains accumulated since 1 April 2007, the date that the Reserve was created. Accumulated gains arising before that date are consolidated into the balance on the Capital Adjustment Account.

2014/15 2015/16

£'000 £'000

8,080 Balance at 1st April 7,943

39 Upward revaluation of assets 0

-30

Downward revaluation of assets and

impairment losses not charged to the

Surplus / Deficit on the Provision of

Services

-57

9 Surplus or deficit on revaluation of non-

current assets not posted to the

Surplus or Deficit on the Provision of

Services

-57

-13 Revaluation losses written off to the

Capital Adjustment Account

-39

-133 Depreciation on revaluation gains

written off to the Capital Adjustment

-134

7,943 Balance at 31st March 7,713

CAPITAL ADJUSTMENT ACCOUNT

The Capital Adjustment Account absorbs the timing differences arising from the different arrangements for accounting for the consumption of non-current assets and for financing the acquisition, construction or enhancement of those assets under statutory provisions. The Account is debited with the cost of acquisition, construction or enhancement as depreciation, impairment losses and amortisations are charged to the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement (with reconciling postings from the Revaluation Reserve to convert fair value figures to a historical cost basis). The Account is credited with the amounts set aside by the Authority as finance for the costs of acquisition, construction and enhancement. The Account contains accumulated gains and losses on Investment Properties and gains recognised on donated assets that have yet to be consumed by the Authority.


Page 38 of 76

The Account also contains revaluation gains accumulated on Property, Plant and Equipment before 1 April 2007, the date that the Revaluation reserve was created to hold such gains. Note 6 provides details of the source of all the transactions posted to the Account, apart from those involving the Revaluation reserve.

2014/15 2015/16

£'000 £'000

9,291 Balance at 1st April 8,826

Reversal of items relating to capital

expenditure debited or credited to the


Statement :-515 Charges for depreciation and impairment of

non-current assets

-491

13 Revaluation gains / losses on Property, Plant

and Equipment

0

-184 Revenue Expenditure Funded from capital

under statute -346

-210 Amount of investment property value written

off on disposal 0

-9 Amounts of non-current assets written off on

disposal or sale as part of the gain/loss on

disposal to the Comprehensive Income and

Expenditure Statement

-49

8,386 7,940

Adjusting amounts written out of the

Revaluation Reserve

0 remaining value of Aberangell amenity land 39

133 Depreciation adjustment 134

8,519 Net written out amount of the cost of non-

current assets consumed in the year

8,113

Capital financing applied in the year :

110 Use of 2014/15 capital receipts to finance

new capital expenditure

0

30 Capital grants and contributions credited to


Statement that have been applied to capital

financing

468

0 Application of grants to capital financing from

the Capital Grants Unapplied Account

94

167 Capital expenditure charged against the

General Fund balances

337

8,826 Balance at 31st March 9,012


Page 39 of 76

PENSIONS RESERVE

The Pensions Reserve absorbs the timing differences arising from the different arrangements for accounting for post employment benefits and for funding benefits in accordance with statutory provisions. The Authority accounts for post employment benefits in the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement as the benefits earned by employees accruing years of service, updating the liabilities recognised to reflect inflation, changing assumptions and investment returns on any resources set aside to meet the costs. However, statutory arrangements require benefits earned to be financed as the Authority makes employer’s contributions to pension funds or eventually pays any pensions for which it is directly responsible. The debit balance on the Pensions Reserve therefore shows a substantial shortfall in the benefits earned by past and current employees and the resources the Authority has set aside to meet them. The statutory arrangements will ensure that funding will have been set aside by the time the benefits come to be paid.

2014/15 2015/16

£'000 £'000

-5,384 Balance at 1 April -8,850

-3,153 Actuarial gains / losses on pensions assets and liabilities 3,598

-1,069

Reversal of items relating to retirement benefits debited or

credited to the Surplus or Deficit on the Provision of

Services in the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure

Statement -1,205

756

Employer's pension contributions and direct payments to

pensioners payable in the year. 704

-8,850 Balance at 31 March -5,753 ACCUMULATED ABSENCES ACCOUNT

The Accumulated Absences Account absorbs the differences that would otherwise arise on the General Fund Balance from accruing for compensated absences earned but not taken in the year e.g. annual leave entitlement carried forward at 31 March. Statutory arrangements require that the impact on the General Fund Balance is neutralised by transfers to or from the Account.

2014/15 2015/16

£'000 £'000

-120 Balance at 1 April -121

120

Settlement or cancellation of accrual made at the end of the

preceding year. 121

-121 Amounts accrued at the end of the current year -147

-1

Amount by which officer remuneration charged to the

Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement on an

accruals basis is different from remuneration chargeable in

the year in accordance with statutory requirements -26

-121 Balance at 31 March -147


Page 40 of 76

23. CASH FLOW STATEMENT – OPERATING ACTIVITIES

The “adjustments to net surplus or deficit on the provision of services for non cash movements” comprises of :

2014/15 2015/16

£'000 £'000

-498 Depreciation -491

-18 Impairment 0

-218 Other movements related to asset values -49

305 Movement in creditors 2

1 Movement in short term investments 0

-65 Movement in debtors -211

10 Movement in stock 17

-313 Provision of Services costs for post employment benefits -501

-796 -1,233

The cash flows for operating activities includes bank interest received of £14k (£13k in 2014/15).

24. CASH FLOW STATEMENT – INVESTING ACTIVITIES

2014/15 2015/16

£'000 £'000

103

Purchase of property,plant and Equipment,

investment property and intangible assets 94

409

Purchase of short term and long term

investments 500

107 Other payments for investing activities 405

-220

Proceeds from the sale of property, plant and

equipment, investment property and intangible

assets -84

0

Proceeds from short term and long term

investments -411

-148 Other receipts from investing activities -471

251 Net cash flows from investing activities 33 25. CASH FLOW STATEMENT – FINANCING ACTIVITIES

2014/15 2015/16

£'000 £'000

-12

Car loan repayments and related interest

together with finance lease interest -20

11 New car loans advanced 50

-1 Net cash flows from investing activities 30


Page 41 of 76

26. AMOUNTS REPORTED FOR RESOURCE ALLOCATION DECISIONS The analysis of income and expenditure by service on the face of the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement is that specified by the Best Value Accounting Code of Practice. Decisions about resource allocations, however, are taken by the Authority on the basis of budget reports analysed across directorates. These reports are prepared on a different basis from the accounting policies used in the financial statements. In particular :

No charges are made in relation to capital expenditure (whereas depreciation, revaluation and impairment losses in excess of the balance on the Revaluation Reserve and amortisations are charged to services in the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement). SNPA budget reports include the budgeted capital charges within the service expenditure lines and are then reversed out in the reconciliation to grant and levy funding.

The cost of retirement benefits is based on cash flows (payment of employer’s pensions contributions) rather than current service cost of benefits accrued in the year

SNPA budget reports do include the budgeted support services recharges with actual recharged cost / income taken as per budget.

Directorate Income and Expenditure

2014/15

Planning &

Land

Management Corporate Total

£'000 £'000 £'000

Fees, charges and other service income -247 -1,399 -1,646

Government Grants -479 -42 -521

Internal Recharge Income (as budgeted) -1,730 -1,730

Total Income -726 -3,171 -3,897

Employee expenses 2,027 2,182 4,209

Other service expenses 1,482 1,675 3,157

Capital charges (as budgeted) 81 432 513

Support service recharges (as budgeted) 873 857 1,730

Total Expenditure 4,463 5,146 9,609

less: post outturn adjustments 1 -3 -2

Net Services Expenditure (as reported 3

June 2015) 3,738 1,972 5,710

interest earned -14

capital expenditure financed from revenue 34

Capital charges adjustment -514

Net Expenditure per Outturn 5,216


Page 42 of 76

Directorate Income and Expenditure

2015/16

Planning &

Land

Management Corporate Total

£'000 £'000 £'000

Fees, charges and other service income -291 -1,677 -1,968

Government Grants -194 -141 -335

Internal Recharge Income (as budgeted) -1,724 -1,724

Total Income -485 -3,542 -4,027

Employee expenses 1,903 2,265 4,168

Other service expenses 1,072 1,834 2,906

Capital charges (as budgeted) 76 427 503

Support service recharges (as budgeted) 839 886 1,725

Total Expenditure 3,890 5,412 9,302

add: accrual for redundancy cost 10 10

less: post outturn adjustment to Plas Tan y Bwlch

fee income -13 -13

Net Services Expenditure (as reported 8

June 2016) 3,405 1,867 5,272

interest earned -17

capital expenditure financed from revenue 244

Capital charges adjustment -503

Net Expenditure per Outturn 4,996 Reconciliation of the Directorate Income and Expenditure to the Cost of Services in the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement. This reconciliation shows how the figures in the analysis of directorate income and expenditure relate to the amounts included in the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement.

2014/15 2015/16

£'000 £'000

5,216 Net expenditure in the Directorate Analysis 4,996

494

Net expenditure of services and support services

not included in the Analysis 275

238

Amounts in the Comprehensive Income and

Expenditure Statement not reported to

management in the Analysis 582

10

Amounts included in the Analysis not included in


Statement 10

5,958

Cost of Services in Comprehensive Income

and Expenditure Statement 5,863


Page 43 of 76

27. ACQUIRED AND DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS The Authority had no such operations during the year, other than the closure of

Dolgellau Information Centre. 28. TRADING OPERATIONS The Authority does generate income in a number of ways such as car parks,

information centres and the study centre, but none of these are regarded as separate commercial ventures for the purpose of this note. The activities are principally undertaken to support the aims of the Authority such as access and education. The respective budgets are set prudently such that the Authority is not exposed to any unreasonable risk.

29. AGENCY SERVICES

The Authority acts on behalf of Conwy Borough Council in the maintenance of certain footpaths. Relevant materials and equipment costs are reimbursed up to an annual limit of £15,000.

30. POOLED BUDGETS The Authority has no such arrangement. 31. MEMBERS ALLOWANCES The Authority paid the following amounts to members of the Authority during the year.

The allowances paid to members were:-

2014/15 2015/16 £’000 £’000

77 Members Allowances 78 11 Travel & Subsistence 14

88 92

Further information on the sums paid to individual members was published in the Caernarfon & Denbigh Herald, Cambrian News and the North Wales Weekly News dated 23 June 2016.


Page 44 of 76

32. STAFF REMUNERATION

Regulation 7A of The Accounts and Audit (Wales) Regulations 2010 requires disclosures of employees’ remuneration.

The Accounts and Audit (Wales) Regulations 2014 require the Authority to disclose a remuneration ratio between the median remuneration of all the authority’s employees during the year and that of the authority’s chief executive.

2014/15 2015/16

(£’000) (£’000)

79 Chief Executive Officer 77

23 SNPA Median Salary 23

3.4 Ratio 3.4

The senior employees, as defined in the Regulations, whose remuneration excluding employers pension contributions exceeded £60,000 in 2015/16 are as disclosed below:

2014/15 2015/16

Chief Executive officer (previous)

Chief Executive officer (new)

Chief Finance Officer

(Section 151)*

Chief Executive officer

Chief Finance Officer

(Section 151)*

£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000

7 72 6 Salary (including fees and allowances)

77 6

0 0 0 Benefits in Kind 0 0

7 72 6 Total remuneration (excluding employers pension contributions)

77 6

1 16 1 Employers Pension Contribution

17 1

8 88 7 Total remuneration (including employers pension contributions)

94 7

* Part time post at a rate that would equate to remuneration in excess of £60,000

for the full time equivalent.


Page 45 of 76

In 2015/16 one other officer received a sum of over £60,000 consisting of salary and accrual of pension cost on early retirement.

Number of other officers who received over £60,000 inclusive of salary and redundancy costs.

2014/15 2015/16

0 £60,000 - £64,999 1

0 £65,000 - £69,999 0

0 £70,000 - £74,999 0

0 £75,000 - £79,999 0

0 Total 1

The number of exit packages with total cost per band and total cost of the compulsory and other redundancies are set out in the table below:

exit package cost

band

2014/15 2015/16 2014/15 2015/16 2014/15 2015/16 2014/15 2015/16

£'000 £'000 £'000

0-40 3 0 3 4 6 4 121 49

40- 60 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

60 - 80 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

80 - 100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

100 - 150 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Total 3 0 3 4 6 4 121 49

number of

compulsory

redundancies

number of other

departures

agreed

Total number of

exit packages by

cost band

Total cost of exit

packages in each

band

The total cost of exit packages for 2014/15 has been restated to include pension costs relating to 2 officers reported on in 2014/15 but incurred in 2015/16 . 33. EXTERNAL AUDIT COSTS The Wales Audit Office audit plan stipulates the following costs in relation to the audit

of the Statement of Accounts, certification of grant claims and statutory inspections and to non-audit services provided by the Authority’s external auditors :-

2014/15 £’000

Regulatory area 2015/16 £’000

34 Fees payable to the Wales Audit Office with regard to external audit services carried out by the appointed auditor

30

17 Fees payable to the Auditor General for Wales in respect of statutory inspections and the LG Measure 2009

17

51 Total 47


Page 46 of 76

34. GRANT INCOME The Authority credited the following grants, contributions and donations to the

Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement in 2015/16

2014/15 2015/16

£'000 £'000

REVENUE GRANTS (significant only)

Credited to Services

64 NRW - Rhododendron Control 45

10 NRW - hedges/ flood defence - Dolgellau 0

112 NRW - Resilient Eco-systems 0

22 NRW - Plas Tan y Bwlch 0

0 NRW - Access related works 15

12 SITA Trust - ecosystem works 27

50 WG - Invasive Species (INNS) 0

67 WG - Nature Fund 65

10 NT - Rhododendron Control 0

40

WG (Visit Wales) - Environmental

Management & Tourism Project 0

0 WG - Frongoch project 18

10 CADW - Archaeological projects 0

47 HLF - Dolgellau THI 0

0

HLF - contribution towards the cost of

preparing the bid for a further scheme

on historic buildings in Dolgellau 29

6 HLF - Ysgwrn (part 1) 0

19 HLF - Ysgwrn (part 2) 132

36 Gwynedd - Green Key 0

12 Conwy - Access projects 30

517 Total Revenue Grants 361

NRW – Natural Resources Wales WG – Welsh Government HLF – Heritage Lottery Fund NT – National Trust


Page 47 of 76

2014/15 2015/16

£'000 £'000

CAPITAL GRANTS

Credited to Non-specific grant income

30 WG - Access works 0

0 Heritage Lottery Fund - Ysgwrn 393

0 WG - Ysgwrn - HLF scheme 185

30 Sub-total 578

Credited to Services

77 WG - Access works 0

33 Gwynedd Council - Dolgellau THI 0

83 Heritage Lottery Fund - Dolgellau THI 0

193 Sub-total 0

Capital Grants received in advance -

applied

0 WG - Access 94

0 Sub-total 94

223 Total Capital Grants 672 A total grant of £107k (£148k in 2014/15) for access works was allocated by the Welsh

Government in the last quarter of the 2015/16 financial year. There were no related works in 2015/16 and the actual grant was received on 1 April so the total grant is being accounted for in 2016/17.

35. RELATED PARTIES

The Authority is required to disclose material transactions with related parties – bodies or individuals that have the potential to control or influence the Authority or to be controlled or influenced by the Authority. Disclosure of these transactions allows readers to assess the extent to which the Authority might have been constrained in its ability to operate independently or might have secured the ability to limit another party’s ability to bargain freely with the Authority. The Authority has adopted a materiality level of £5,000 for disclosure of Related Party Transactions relevant to Members and Staff. Welsh Government The Welsh Government exerts significant influence through legislation and grant funding. The relevant sums are disclosed in notes 10 (“non-specific grant income”) and 34 (“grant income”).


Page 48 of 76

Members Members of the Authority have direct control over the Authority’s financial and operating policies. The total of members’ allowances paid in 2015/16 is shown in note 32. Officers The Authority’s Chief Finance Officer has declared an interest as he is Gwynedd Council’s Head of Finance. The Authority received circa £1.1m (including the levy) from Gwynedd Council in 2015/16 (£1.1m in 2014/15)

One officer has declared that he is a director/trustee with the North Wales Open Air Partnership which received a £10,000 grant from CAE during 2015/16.

Entities controlled or significantly influenced by the Authority The Authority is responsible for administering the Cronfa Arbrofol Eryri (C.A.E.) grant monies on behalf of the Welsh Government. In awarding grants to organisations, the C.A.E. panel imposes special grant conditions, which include linking financial performance to achieving agreed milestones. During the 2015/16 financial year 1 new project requiring £10,000 or more grant contribution was approved. The Authority had contracts with Gwynedd Council to provide the following services during 2015/16:

Pension Fund administration & Payroll Support Service (£4,645)

Internal audit Service (£7,690) The Authority has an interest in a Limited Liability Partnership set up jointly by the 15 UK National Park Authorities for the purpose of generating income mainly from sponsorship.

36. CAPITAL EXPENDITURE AND CAPITAL FINANCING

The total amount of capital expenditure incurred in the year is shown in the table below, together with the resources that have been used to finance it.


Page 49 of 76

2014/15 2015/16

£'000 £'000

0 Opening Capital Financing Requirement 0

Capital Investment

Property, plant & equipment

Conservation and the Natural Environment

0 Ysgwrn 468

Understanding

18 Plas Tan y Bwlch - various 0

Recreation Management

16 Public toilets upgrade 0

14 Pen y Pass upgrade 0

Wardens & Estate Workers

10 Vehicles for wardens 38

30 Heavy machinery for Access works 0

Support Services

35 I.T. General Replacement programme 47

123 553

Revenue expenditure funded from capital under Statute

Conservation & Cultural Heritage

105 Built Environment schemes 179

194 Dolgellau THI 0

Recreation Management

25 Access Improvements 169

324 348

447 Total Expenditure 901

Sources of Finance

170 Government Grants and other Contributions 470

0 Grant received in advance in 2014/15 94

110 Capital Receipt applied 0

167 Sums set aside from revenue: Direct revenue contributions 337

447 901

0 Closing capital financing requirement 0

0 Increase/decrease in Capital Financing Requirement 0

From the total spend of £901k (£447k in 2014/15), £348k (£324k in 2014/15) relates to expenditure on fixed assets not owned by the Authority namely Built Environment schemes (£179k) and Access grant works (£169k). The related grants and contributions finance amounts to £2k (£140k in 2014/15). The net revenue expenditure funded from capital under statute is therefore £346k (£184k in 2014/15).


Page 50 of 76

37. LEASES Authority as Lessee Finance Leases The Authority as lessee has no finance leases.

Operating Leases

The Authority has operating leases relating to vehicles, photocopiers and franking machines. The future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable leases in future years are :

31 March 2015 31 March 2016

£’000 £’000

66 Not later than 1 year 64

145 Later than 1 year and not later than 5 years

156

1,254 Later than 5 years 8,860

1,465 Total 9,080

Lease costs of £7,810 (£7,810 in 2014/15) on equipment were charged to the Administration & Customer Care (subsequently included in the support services apportionment), and Understanding (Plas Tan y Bwlch ) services in the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement during the year. Lease costs of £8,702 (£21,739 in 2014/15) on Authority vehicles were charged to the Understanding and Corporate & Democratic services in the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement during the year. Those costs charged against support services were subsequently reallocated. Lease costs of £66,093 (£74,595 in 2014/15) on properties were charged to the Understanding, Wardens, Estate Workers & Volunteers and Recreation Management & Traffic and Transport services in the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement during the year. Those costs charged against support services were subsequently reallocated. The increase in the commitment is due to the requirement to pay a percentage of the annual income from Cae Llan car park in Betws y Coed to the owner for the remaining period of the lease agreement (£7,487 cost in 2015/16). The terms of the lease agreement for Cae Llan change in 2021, however, the effect is not quantifiable as the terms will be determined at that time. For the purposes of this Statement it is assumed that there is no significant change in annual cost.


Page 51 of 76

Authority as Lessor Finance Leases As at 31/3/2016 the Authority has no finance lease as lessor.

Operating Leases

The Authority leases out property under operating leases for the following purposes:

commercial, ground rents on chalets at Plas Tan y Bwlch, office accommodation, grazing and recreational/access.

The income receivable for 2015/16 was £195,034 (2014/15 £197,909).

The estimated minimum lease payments receivable under non-cancellable leases in future years are :

31 March 2015 31 March 2016

£’000 £’000

185 Not later than 1 year 139

410 Later than 1 year and not later than 5 years

297

43,352 Later than 5 years 48,886

43,947 Total 49,322

(Figures are subject to the effect of rent reviews, and income generated for Hafod Eryri. The Hafod Eryri rental has been projected on the basis of the 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16 figures (taking into account that an additional sum is receivable over 5 years from 1/4/2013) – the lease period ending 30th September 2981). The associated depreciation charge on the assets relevant to operating leases is £28,372 (2014/15 £28,372).

38. PFI AND SIMILAR CONTRACTS The Authority does not have any such contracts. 39. IMPAIRMENT LOSSES

There were no impairment losses arising on property, plant and equipment during 2015/16.

40. TERMINATION BENEFITS

Termination benefits costing £49k relating to 4 officers were incurred in the 2015/16 financial year .


Page 52 of 76

41. CONTINGENT LIABILITIES

At 31 March 2016 the Authority had no material contingent liabilities.

42. CONTINGENT ASSETS

At 31 March 2016 the Authority had no material contingent assets. 43. NATURE AND EXTENT OF RISKS ARISING FROM FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS The Authority’s activities can expose it to a variety of financial risks:

Credit risk – the possibility that other parties might fail to pay amounts due to the Authority,

Liquidity risk – the possibility that the Authority might not have funds available to meet its commitments to make payments,

Market risk – the possibility that financial loss might arise for the Authority as a result of changes in such measures as interest rates.

The above risks were managed through the Authority’s debt recovery arrangements and Annual Treasury Management Strategy, with no significant negative impacts in 2015/16.

44. PENSION FUND

Participation in Pension Schemes As part of the terms and conditions of employment of its officers, the Authority makes contributions towards the cost of post employment benefits. Although these benefits will not actually be payable until employees retire, the Authority has a commitment to make the payments that needs to be disclosed at the time that employees earn their future entitlement. The Authority participates in two post employment schemes :

The Local Government Pension Scheme, administered locally by Gwynedd Council – this is a funded defined benefit final salary scheme, meaning that the Authority and employees pay contributions into a fund, calculated at a level intended to balance the pensions liabilities with investment assets.

Discretionary post retirement benefits upon early retirement. This is an unfunded defined benefit arrangement under which liabilities are recognised when awards have been made. No investment assets were built up to meet these pensions liabilities, and cash has to be generated to meet the actual pensions payments as they fall due. The Authority has an annual liability based on past awards made under these arrangements, but has not added to that liability in recent years. Rather, any extra pension liability ensuing from granting early retirement is recognised and paid off in that specific year.


Page 53 of 76

Transactions Relating to Post-employment Benefits

We recognise the cost of retirement benefits in the reported cost of services when they are earned by employees, rather than when the benefits are eventually paid as pensions. However, the charge we are required to make against the General Fund is based on cash payable in the year, so the real cost of post employment/retirement benefits is reversed out of the General Fund via the Movement in Reserves Statement. The following transactions have been made in the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement and the General Fund Balance via the Movement in Reserves Statement during the year. Change in the Fair Value of Plan Assets, Defined Benefit Obligations and Net Liability for year end 31 March 2016.

Period ended 31 March 2016

Assets Obligations Net (liability) / asset

£’000 £’000 £’000

Fair Value of employer assets

25,086 25,086

Present value of funded liabilities

33,469 (33,469)

Present value of unfunded liabilities

467 (467)

Opening position as at 31 March 2015

25,086 33,936 (8,850)

Service cost

- Current service cost * 903 (903)

- Past Service Cost (including curtailments)

16 (16)

Total Service Cost 919 (919)

Net interest

- Interest income on plan assets

808 808

- Interest cost on defined benefit obligation

1,094 (1,094)

Total Net Interest 808 1,094 (286)

Total defined benefit cost recognised in Profit or (Loss)

808 2,013 (1,205)

Cashflows

- Plan participants’ contributions

193 193 0

- Employer contributions 676 676

- Contributions in respect of unfunded benefits

28 28

- Benefits paid (569) (569) 0

- Unfunded benefits paid (28) (28) 0

Expected closing position 26,194 35,545 (9,351)


Page 54 of 76

Remeasurements

- Change in demographic assumptions

0 0

- Change in financial assumptions

(3,484) 3,484

- Other experience (286) 286

- Return on assets excluding amounts included in net interest

(172) (172)

Total remeasurements recoignised in Other Comprehensive Income (OCI)

(172) (3,770) 3,598

Fair value of employer assets

26,022 26,022


31,367 (31,367)


408 (408)

Closing position as at 31 March 2016

26,022 31,775 (5,753)

The current service cost includes an allowance for administration expenses of 0.5% of payroll

Change in the Fair Value of Plan Assets, Defined Benefit Obligations and Net Liability for year end 31 March 2015.

Period ended 31 March 2015

Assets Obligations Net (liability) / asset

£’000 £’000 £’000

Fair Value of employer assets

22,168 22,168


27,072 (27,072)


480 (480)

Opening position as at 31 March 2014

22,168 27,552 (5,384)

Service cost

- Current service cost * 0 754 (754)

- Past Serrvice Cost (including curtailments)

0 82 (82)

Total Service Cost 0 836 (836)

Net interest

- Interest income on plan assets

957 957

- Interest cost on defined benefit obligation

1,190 (1,190)

Total Net Interest 957 1,190 (233)


Page 55 of 76

Total defined benefit cost recognised in Profit or (Loss)

957 2,026 (1,069)

Cashflows

- Plan participants’ contributions

200 200 0

- Employer contributions 727 727

- Contributions in respect of unfunded benefits

29 29

- Benefits paid (751) (751) 0

- Unfunded benefits paid (29) (29) 0

Expected closing position 23,301 28,998 (5,697)

Remeasurements

- Change in demographic assumptions

0 0

- Change in financial assumptions

5,106 (5,106)

- Other experience (168) 168

- Return on assets excluding amounts included in net interest

1,785 1,785

Total remeasurements recoignised in Other Comprehensive Income (OCI)

1,785 4,938 (3,153)

Fair value of employer assets

25,086 25,086


33,469 (33,469)


467 (467)

Closing position as at 31 March 2015

25,086 33,936 (8,850)

The current service cost includes an allowance for administration expenses of 0.5% of payroll

Information about the Defined Benefit Obligation

Liability split Weighted Average Duration at Previous Valuation

£’000 Percentage (%)

Active members 21,824 69.6 23.3

Deferred members

3,174 10.1 24.3

Pensioner members

6,369 20.3 12.2

Total 31,367 100 20.3


Page 56 of 76

(Figures are for funded obligations only and do not include the unfunded pensioner liabilities. The durations are effective as at the previous formal valuation as at 31 March 2013).

Scheme History

2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16

£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000

Present value of liabilities in the Local Government Pension Scheme

(21,153) (25,642) (27,552) (33,936) (31,775)

Fair Value of Assets in the Local Government Pension Scheme

17,430 20,013 22,168 25,086 26,022

Surplus / (deficit) in the scheme : (3,723)

(5,629)

(5,384)

(8,850)

(5,753)

The liabilities show the underlying commitments that the Authority has in the long run to pay post employment (retirement) benefits. The total liability of £31.8m has a substantial impact on the net worth of the Authority as recorded in the Balance Sheet i.e. reducing it by £5.8m. Statutory provisions for funding the deficit mean that the financial position of the Authority remains healthy :

the deficit on the local government scheme will be made good by increased contributions over the remaining working life of employees (i.e. before payments fall due), as assessed by the scheme actuary,

finance is only required to be raised to cover discretionary benefits when the pensions are actually paid.

The total contributions by the Authority, as estimated by the Actuary, for the year to 31 March 2016 is £704k. The Actuary estimates employers contributions for the period to 31 March 2017 at £646k.

The Discretionary Benefits arrangements have no assets to cover its liabilities. The Local Government Pension Scheme’s assets consist of the following categories, by proportion of the total assets held :

31 March 2015 31 March 2016

(%) (%)

74 Equity investments 74

14 Debt investments (bonds) 13

10 Property 10

2 Cash 3

100 100

The Major Categories of Plan Assets as a Percentage of Total Plan Assets The actuary has provided a detailed breakdown of Fund assets in accordance with the requirements of IAS19. This analysis distinguishes between the nature and risk of those assets and to further break them down between those with a quoted price in an active market and those that do not. The asset split for Snowdonia National Park Authority is assumed to be in the same proportion to the Fund’s asset allocation as at 31 December


Page 57 of 76

2015. The split is shown in the following table. The actuary estimates the bid value of the Fund’s assets as at 31 March 2016 to be £1,536,000 based on information provided by the Administering Authority and allowing for index returns where necessary. Fair Value of Employer Assets The asset values below are at bid value as required under IAS19.

Asset category

31 Mar 2016 31 Mar 2015

Quoted prices in

active markets

Prices not quoted in

active markets

Total % Quoted prices in

active markets

Prices not quoted in

active markets

Total %

(£’000) (£’000) (£’000) (£’000) (£’000) (£’000)

Equity Securities :

Consumer 827.6 0 827.6 3 695 0 695 3

Energy & Utilities

142.6 0 142.6 1 517 0 517 2

Financial Institutions

424.2 0 424.2 2 391 0 391 2

Health & Care 1,500.3 0 1,500.3 6 1,044 0 1,044 4

Information Technology

861.2 0 861.2 3 729 0 729 3

Other 1,036.7 0 1,036.7 4 1,272 0 1,272 5

Debt Securities :

Other 0 3,477.7 3,477.7 13 0 0 0 0

Private Equity :

All 0 1,057.4 1,057.4 4 0 1,061 1,061 4

Real Estate:

UK Property 496.6 2,190.9 2,687.5 10 0 2,406 2,406 10

Overseas Property

0 49.1 49.1 0 0 73 73 0

Investment funds and unit trusts :

Equities 5,281.9 7,657.9 12,939.8 50 5,727 7,127 12,853 51

Bonds 0 0 0 0 0 3,474 3,474 14

Infrastructure 0 216.5 216.5 1 0 118 118 0

Cash and cash equivalents :

All 801.4 0 801.4 3 453 0 453 2

Totals 11,373 14,650 26,022 100 10,827 14,259 25,086 100

Basis for Estimating Assets and Liabilities Liabilities have been assessed on an actuarial basis using the projected unit credit method, an estimate of the pensions that will be payable in future years dependent on assumptions about mortality rates, salary levels etc., Both the Local Government Pension Scheme and Discretionary Benefits liabilities have been assessed by Hymans Robertson, an independent firm of actuaries, estimates for the Authority Fund being based on the latest full valuation of the scheme as at 31 March 2013.


Page 58 of 76

The principal assumptions used by the actuary have been :

*Salary increases are assumed to be 1% p.a. until 31 March 2016 reverting to the long term

assumption shown thereafter.

The estimation of the defined benefit obligations is sensitive to the actuarial assumptions set out in the table above. In order to quantify the impact of a change in the financial assumptions used, the actuary has calculated and compared the value of the scheme liabilities as at 31 March 2016 on varying bases. The approach taken is consistent with that adopted to derive the IAS19 figures provided in this note. To quantify the uncertainty around life expectancy, the actuary has calculated the difference in cost to the Council of a one year increase in life expectancy. For sensitivity purposes this is assumed to be an increase in the cost of benefits of broadly 3%. In practice the actual cost of one year increase in life expectancy will depend on the structure of the revised assumption (i.e. if improvements to survival rates predominantly apply at younger or older ages). The figures in the table below have been derived based on membership profile of the Authority as at 31 March 2013, the date of the most recent actuarial valuation. The approach taken in preparing the sensitivity analysis shown is consistent with that adopted in the previous year.

Local Government Pension Scheme (£’000)

2014/15 2015/16

Long term expected rate of return on assets in the scheme :

Equity 3.2% 3.5%

Bonds 3.2% 3.5%

Property 3.2% 3.5%

Cash 3.2% 3.5%

Mortality Assumptions :

Longevity at 65 for current pensioners :

Men 22 years 22 years

Women 24 years 24 years

Longevity at 65 for future pensioners :

Men 24.4 years 24.4 years

Women 26.6 years 26.6 years

Rate of inflation (CPI) 2.4% 2.2%

Rate of increase in salaries* 4.3% 4.2%

Rate of increase in pensions 2.4% 2.2%

Rate for discounting scheme liabilities

3.2% 3.5%

Take up of option to convert annual pension into retirement lump sum

50% pre 1/4/2008 service and 75% post 1/4/2008 service.

50% pre 1/4/2008 service and 75% post 1/4/2008 service.


Page 59 of 76

Impact on the Defined Benefit Obligation in the Scheme

Change in assumption Approximate increase to Employer 31 March 2016

Approximate monetary amount 31 March 2016

(%) (£‘000)

0.5% decrease in real discount rate 12% 3,757

1 year increase in life expectancy 3% 953

0.5% increase in salary increase rate 4% 1,326

0.5% increase in the pension increase rate 7% 2,345


Page 60 of 76

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF SNOWDONIA NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY

Independent auditor’s report to the Members of Snowdonia National Park Authority I have audited the accounting statements and related notes of:

Snowdonia National Park Authority

for the year ended 31 March 2016 under the Public Audit (Wales) Act 2004. Snowdonia National Park Authority’s accounting statements comprise the Movement in Reserves Statement, the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement, the Balance Sheet and the Cash Flow Statement. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and the Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the United Kingdom 2015/16 based on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs).

Respective responsibilities of the responsible financial officer and the independent auditor

As explained more fully in the Statement of Responsibilities for the Statement of Accounts [as set out on page 9], the responsible financial officer is responsible for the preparation of the statement of accounts which gives a true and fair view. My responsibility is to audit the accounting statements and related notes in accordance with applicable law and International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland). Those standards require me to comply with the Auditing Practices Board’s Ethical Standards for Auditors.

Scope of the audit of the accounting statements

An audit involves obtaining evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the accounting statements and related notes sufficient to give reasonable assurance that the accounting statements and related notes are free from material misstatement, whether caused by fraud or error. This includes an assessment of whether the accounting policies are appropriate to Snowdonia National Park Authority’s circumstances and have been consistently applied and adequately disclosed; the reasonableness of significant accounting estimates made by the responsible financial officer and the overall presentation of the accounting statements and related notes. In addition, I read all the financial and non-financial information in the Narrative Report to identify material inconsistencies with the audited accounting statements and related notes. If I become aware of any apparent material misstatements or inconsistencies, I consider the implications for my report.


Page 61 of 76

Opinion on the accounting statements of Snowdonia National Park Authority

In my opinion the accounting statements and related notes:

give a true and fair view of the financial position of Snowdonia National Park Authority as at 31 March 2016 and of its income and expenditure for the year then ended; and

have been properly prepared in accordance with the Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the United Kingdom 2015/16.

Opinion on other matters

In my opinion, the information contained in the Narrative Report for the financial year for which the accounting statements and related notes are prepared is consistent with the accounting statements and related notes.

Matters on which I report by exception

I have nothing to report in respect of the Governance Statement on which I report to you if, in my opinion, it does not reflect compliance with ‘Delivering Good Governance in Local Government: Framework’ published by CIPFA/SOLACE in June 2007, or if the statement is misleading or inconsistent with other information I am aware of from my audit.

Certificate of completion of audit

I certify that I have completed the audit of the accounts of Snowdonia National Park Authority in accordance with the requirements of the Public Audit (Wales) Act 2004 and the Code of Audit Practice issued by the Auditor General for Wales.

Anthony J. Barrett

(for and on behalf of)

Huw Vaughan Thomas – Auditor General for Wales 24 Cathedral Road Cardiff CF11 9LJ Date: 28 September 2016

(The maintenance and integrity of the Snowdonia National Park Authority web site is the responsibility of the Authority; the work carried out by the auditors does not involve consideration of these matters and, accordingly, the auditors accept no responsibility for any changes that may have occurred to the statement of accounts since it was initially presented on the web site).


Page 62 of 76

Annual Governance Statement 2015-16

This statement meets the requirement to produce a Statement of Internal Control pursuant to Regulation 4 of the

Accounts and Audit (Wales) Regulation 2005 (as amended in 2010)

1. Introduction

Snowdonia National Park Authority is responsible for ensuring that its business is conducted in accordance with the law and proper standards, and that public money is safeguarded and properly accounted for, and used economically, efficiently and effectively. Snowdonia National Park Authority is a Welsh Improvement Authority under Section 1 of the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2009 and as such has a general duty under section 2 to make arrangements to secure continuous improvement in the way in which its functions are exercised. In discharging this overall responsibility, Snowdonia National Park Authority is also responsible for putting in place proper arrangements for the governance of its affairs, facilitating the effective exercise of its functions, which includes arrangements for the management of risk and adequate and effective financial management. Snowdonia National Park Authority has approved and adopted a code of corporate governance, which is consistent with the principles of the CIPFA/Solace Framework Delivering Good Governance in Local Government. This statement explains how the Authority has complied with the code and also meets the requirements of regulation 4(2) of the Accounts and Audit (Wales) Regulations 2005 in relation to the publication of a statement on internal control.

2. The Purpose of the Governance Framework

The governance framework comprises the systems and processes, and culture and values, by which the authority is directed and controlled and its activities through which it accounts to, engages with and leads the community. It enables the authority to monitor the achievement of its strategic objectives and to consider whether those objectives have led to the delivery of appropriate, cost effective services. The system of internal control is a significant part of that framework and is designed to manage risk to a reasonable level rather than to eliminate all risk of failure to achieve policies, aims and objectives; it can therefore only provide reasonable and not absolute assurance of effectiveness. The system of internal control is based on an ongoing process designed to identify and prioritise the risks to the achievement of Snowdonia National Park Authority’s policies, aims and objectives, to evaluate the likelihood of those risks being realised and the impact should they be realised, and to manage them efficiently, effectively and economically.


Page 63 of 76

3. The Governance Framework

The Governance Framework comprises the six principles of good governance:

Principle 1: Focusing on the Authority’s purpose, on outcomes for the

community including citizens and service uses and creating and implementing a

vision for the local area

Principle 2: Members and Officers working together to achieve a common

purpose, with clearly defined functions and roles

Principle 3: Promoting values for the Authority and demonstrating the values of

good governance through upholding high standards of conduct and behaviour

Principle 4: Taking informed and transparent decisions which are subject to

effective scrutiny and managing risk

Principle 5: Developing the capacity and capability of Members and Officers to

be effective

Principle 6: Engaging with local people and other stakeholders to ensure robust

public accountability

Snowdonia National Park Authority develops and implements its strategic corporate planning through the adoption of the:

Snowdonia National Park Management Plan;

Eryri Local Development Plan;

Business and Improvement Plan; and

Corporate Work Programme.

These 4 documents represent the cornerstone for the Authority’s work in fulfilling its primary purposes as defined in the Environment Act 1995 and in implementing its vision. Governance Structure The Authority’s governance structure comprises of 4 main committees:

Snowdonia National Park Authority has 18 appointed Members and during

2015/16 had 6 scheduled meetings.

The Performance and Resources Committee was held 3 times during 2015/16.

As part of its remit it undertakes audit committee functions in accordance with

CIPFA requirements.

The Planning and Access Committee was held 9 times during 2015/16. This

committee is responsible for carrying out the Authority’s statutory planning

functions.


Page 64 of 76

The Authority’s Standards Committee was held twice during 2015/16.

Membership of the committee, whose remit it is to promote and maintain high

standards of conduct by Members, comprises of 3 Authority Members and 3

independent members.

The Authority’s Standing Orders (published on the website) gives a detailed account of the arrangements for each committee. For every committee, the agenda, minutes and associated reports and background papers are all published on the Authority’s website. Management Team The Authority’s management structure includes the Chief Executive (who is also the ‘National Park Officer’ and the Head of Paid Service) and two Directors. The Authority’s Management Team meet fortnightly, with the Head of Finance and the Head of Personnel in attendance. Standards The Authority has an established Code of Conduct for Members, which includes a section that specifically refers to interests and a Members’ Register of Interest. The Code of Conduct for staff is the national standard code of conduct for public authority employees. The Authority has adopted the following policies and procedures for maintaining high standards of conduct for both staff and Members, and to ensure accountability to the public:

Complaints Procedure – based on the best practice model complaints

procedure produced by the Public Service Ombudsman;

Whistle Blowing Policy – to enable staff to raise serious concerns with the

confidence in knowing that they will be thoroughly and fairly investigated,

without fear of reprisals;

Anti-Fraud and Corruption Strategy – contains measures designed to

frustrate any attempted fraudulent or corrupt act, and the steps to be taken if

such an act occurs; and a

Scheme of Delegation – outlines how the full Authority’s functions are carried

out through delegation to its committees and sub-committees.

Risk Management A Risk Management Policy and Strategy is in place. The risk identification process is co-ordinated by the Head of Finance, with input from the Management Team and Heads of Service. The Risk Register and mitigation measures is reviewed and updated quarterly. Internal Audit The review of the effectiveness of the system of internal control and governance arrangements is informed by the work of the Internal Auditors, undertaken by Gwynedd Council. The Internal Audit service is provided in accordance with CIPFA’s Code of Practice for Internal Audit in Local Government in the UK. The Internal Audit Manager


Page 65 of 76

prepares an annual report that summarises the results of internal audit work during the year. External Audit Wales Audit Office act as the Authority’s external auditor, and accordingly report on the Authority’s financial management and performance, as well as issuing an Annual Improvement Report. In addition, Wales Audit Office gives an opinion on the adequacy of internal audit work. Monitoring Officer The Director of Corporate Services has been nominated as the Monitoring Officer. The Monitoring Officer has the specific duty to ensure that the Authority’s Officers and appointed Members maintain the highest standard of conduct in all they do. The Monitoring Officer advises on constitutional procedure and the legality of the Authority’s actions. Financial Management The Authority’s financial management arrangements conform to the governance requirement of the CIPFA Statement on the Role of the Chief Financial Officer in Local Government (2010). The Chief Finance Officer (Gwynedd Council’s Head of Finance) is the officer responsible for the administration of financial affairs as required under Section 151 of the Local Government Act 1972.

4. Significant Governance Issues and Actions Undertaken During the Year

In September 2014 the Authority began the process of reviewing its priorities and identifying new improvement objectives. The process commenced with an initial consultation with staff and the formation of a special Working Group of Members to scope potential Improvement Objectives. Stakeholder engagement was undertaken in October 2014 enabled by an external facilitator. On the 3rd of December 2014, the Authority considered the consultation responses and adopted the resulting Improvement Areas. The Directors and Heads of Service identified potential Improvement Objectives from the Improvement Areas, and these went out for formal consultation. On the 18th of March 2015 the Performance and Resources Committee adopted the following Improvement Objectives: 1. Communication The public and our stakeholders have a good understanding of the special qualities of Snowdonia as defined in the Snowdonia National Park Management Plan, are aware of the opportunities available for their enjoyment and understand the contribution that the Authority makes in such matters. 2. Plans and Policies Review the National Park Management Plan engaging with our partners in its preparation and empowering our partners in its implementation.


Page 66 of 76

3. Health and Wellbeing The National Park is recognised as an area which contributes to people’s physical and mental wellbeing. 4. Partnership and Volunteer Engagement By empowering our communities, partners and volunteers there is greater understanding and ownership of what makes Snowdonia National Park special. 5. Financial Challenge and Performance Management The Authority continues to deliver on its priorities providing a service for all within the reduced resources available.

This allowed for the Business and Improvement Plan for 2015/16 to be prepared for adoption by the Authority meeting on the 29th of April 2015. At the same meeting, the corresponding action plan for fulfilling the Improvement Objectives were incorporated into the Corporate Work Programme for 2015/16. Progress against the Programme has been reported to the Performance and Resources Committee on the 11th of November 2015 and 16th of March 2016. The full annual report on the Corporate Work Programme for 2015/16 will be presented to the Performance and Resource Committee on the 6th of July 2016.

5. Effectiveness of the Governance Framework

Snowdonia National Park Authority has responsibility for conducting, at least annually, a review of the effectiveness of its governance framework including the system of internal control. The review of the effectiveness of the system of internal control is informed by the work of the internal auditors and the senior managers within the Authority, who have responsibility for the development and maintenance of the governance environment, and also by comments made by the external auditors and other review agencies and inspectorates. The review is based on the six principles from the Code of Corporate Governance. Principle 1: Focusing on the Authority’s purpose, on outcomes for the community including citizens and service uses and creating and implementing a vision for the local area

Snowdonia National Park Management Plan 5 year plan 2010-15

One of the Authority’s Improvement Objectives is to review the National Park Management Plan through engagement with partners in its preparation, and to then empower partners in its implementation. A key action identified for 2015/16 was establishing an active Partnership Group with the remit for its preparation and successful implementation. The Partnership Group has been established. However, at the end of the financial year they had yet to meet therefore, no progress


Page 67 of 76

has been made on agreeing terms of reference. The first meeting of the group will take place in June 2016.

Eryri Local Development Plan Adopted July 2011

The Annual Monitoring Report was presented to the Planning and Access Committee on the 21st of October 2015 before being submitted to the Welsh Government. This was the third full review since the Plan was adopted, the results of which will inform a full review of the Plan, which is required every 4 years. Early indications from the Annual Monitoring Reports do identify that some limited changes are necessary, but the changes do not go to the heart of the Plan and are therefore not considered significant. The process of reviewing the Eryri Local Development Plan has commenced, and will continue over the forthcoming year.

Business and Improvement Plan

The Authority will be provided with the results of the Business and Improvement Plan for 2015/16 through the Annual Report and Improvement Plan 2015/16 which will be presented to Members in September 2016. The results for the 2014/15 Business and Improvement Plan were presented to the Authority on the 30th of September 2015. Out of the 5 improvement areas, the Authority had been successful in the progress that had been made on 2 objectives, had made good progress on 1 objective and had only been partially successful in the remaining 2 objectives. Of the 12 core performance indicators, 6 were rated green (success / improvement) and 4 rated amber (performance maintained).

Standards Committee

One appeal hearing was held relating to personnel matters under Section 10 of the Authority’s Disciplinary Procedure. The Standards Committee unanimously upheld the appeal. Accordingly the disciplinary penalty was reviewed and the dismissal was rescinded, allowing for immediate reinstatement of the appellant, on the basis of the appellant receiving a Final Written Formal warning applicable from the date of the meeting and in accordance with paragraph 6.2 of the Disciplinary Policy.


Page 68 of 76

Performance Management

The Authority extended its contract for the Ffynnon performance management system for 1 year during 2015/16. Due to the high cost of the system, Excel spreadsheets have been developed and used internally during the year to record and monitor progress of performance indicators and service data alongside Ffynnon. The internal solution has proven to be an effective alternative, and accordingly the contract for Ffynnon will not be renewed when it comes to an end in June 2016.

Quality of Service In July 2015, the Authority undertook the annual re-assessment and was successful in retaining the Customer Service Excellence accreditation.

Financial Statements

The Wales Audit Office presented its annual ISA260 report to the Authority meeting on the 30th of September 2015, which included an unqualified audit opinion on the Authority’s financial statements and related notes.

The Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015

The Authority has worked with WLGA as an Early Adopter and undertaken Member and Officer training with Brecon Beacons and Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authorities. The Corporate Plan for 2016/17 has been prepared to deliver against the 7 Well-being Goals set out in the Act, whilst still conforming to the requirements of the Local Government (Wales) Measure.

Principle 2: Members and Officers working together to achieve a common purpose, with clearly defined functions and roles

Budget Strategy 2015/16

The prolonged period of public sector cuts which is set to continue for the forthcoming future, has been a primary focus for Members and Officers. Implementation of the Strategy was under constant review and reports on progress were given to Members in a timely manner. During the year identified savings were realised through:

Voluntary redundancies; and

Additional income streams being developed and some fees increased.

In addition, progress on implementing a new business model for the Information Centres was monitored carefully through the Member Working Groups as well as reports to the Performance and Resources Committee.


Page 69 of 76

Progress made on implementing the Business Plan for the Authority’s Environmental Study Centre at Plas Tan y Bwlch was also scrutinised carefully through the Plas Tan y Bwlch Board.

Mid Term Financial Plan 2016 – 2020

During the year a Mid Term Financial Plan for 2016 – 2020 was developed and adopted by the Authority. The Plan provides a strategic framework to enable Members and Officers to develop detailed annual budgets. The Plan ensures that the Authority’s mid to long term priorities and objectives are considered in a sustainable way, and will therefore be used as the basis for the annual budget setting process. The Plan is a key tool for proactive financial management that ensures the Authority aligns its resources in a sustainable way in the mid to long term.

Governance Arrangements

The Authority continuously reviews its governance arrangements. Following a recommendation by the Standards Committee, to review changes previously agreed by the Authority after a two year period, a report was considered by the Authority on the 29th of April 2015. The changes previously agreed entailed making training compulsory for new Members, and that until such time that the training had been undertaken, new Members would only have a very limited role in committees. The Authority concluded that arrangements were working satisfactorily and that no further changes were required. The Authority’s Pay Policy Statement for 2015/16 was presented to the Performance and Resources Committee on the 16th of March 2016, ensuring transparency in staff remuneration at the Authority. The annual survey sent out to Members showed that of the Members who responded, all (100%) agreed that the reports they received on the progress of Improvement Objectives were timely and effective.

Members’ Attendance

Members’ attendance at meetings during 2015/16 was 74.5%, compared to 80% in 2014/15 and 78% in 2013/14.


Page 70 of 76

Welsh Government Consultations

The main Welsh Government consultations affecting the Authority were the Technical Advice Note 20: Planning and the Welsh Language and the Green Paper on Access and Recreation in the Countryside. The Authority’s consultation response on TAN 20 included input from Members through a report to the Planning and Access Committee on the 2nd of March 2016, and the consultation response on Access and Recreation was discussed in great detail by both the North and South Access Forum Members.

Principle 3: Promoting values for the Authority and demonstrating the values of good governance through upholding high standards of conduct and behaviour

Whistle Blowing Policy

The Standards Committee discussed conducting a review of the Authority’s Whistle Blowing Policy on the 2nd of October 2015. The review was postponed to allow 2 Members of the Committee to attend a workshop titled “Whistle Blowing – Adapting to deal with new operating models for public service”, which would allow a review of current best practice. The Members’ learning from the workshop will now inform the review of the policy, which is scheduled to take place at the next Standards Committee meeting.

Anti-Fraud and Corruption Strategy

During 2015/16 no complaints of alleged fraud or corruption were made regarding any Member or Officer of the Authority, and Internal Auditors did not identify any areas of concern through their auditing work.

Complaints – Officers

The Annual Complaints Monitoring Report presented to the Performance and Resources Committee on the 11th of November 2015 noted that all complaints had been responded to within the target period of 15 days and that no patterns of deficient service were identified. The Authority was not subject to a formal investigation of alleged maladministration by the Public Service Ombudsman for Wales in 2015/16.

Complaints - Members

During 2015/16 no complaints were made to the Authority’s Monitoring Officer or directly to the Public


Page 71 of 76

Service Ombudsman for Wales regarding an alleged breach to the Members’ Code of Conduct.

Principle 4: Taking informed and transparent decisions which are subject to effective scrutiny and managing risk

Joint Scrutiny Group

A Joint Scrutiny Committee was established by Members of Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority (PCNPA) and Snowdonia National Park Authority (SNPA) in 2014, with the aim of assessing whether National Park Authority policies are successful in supporting economic activity. The work of the Committee concluded in 2015 and a final outcome report was presented to the Performance and Resources Committee on the 11th of November 2015.

Risk Management The Risk Register is reviewed as a standing item on the quarterly Heads of Service and Management Team meetings, and the revised Risk Register then reviewed in the following Management Team meeting. Identified risks as noted in the Risk Register are allocated as a responsibility to named officers and target dates are set for mitigation. The Risk Register is reviewed by Members in the Performance and Resources Committee as well as the Authority meeting.

External Audit At the time of writing, the Wales Audit Office Annual Improvement Report had not been received. This Statement had to be prepared without the annual improvement report due to the time restraints to comply with the relevant rules.

Planning Services Audit

A review of the Planning Service was carried out by Wales Audit Office, with the final report “Delivering More With Less” published in October 2015. The audit report is positive and points to a good and improving planning service. The report recommended reviewing priorities and targets for the Authority’s planning service, working in partnership with other planning authorities in Wales to develop consistent, robust comparative cost and volume data and use this to demonstrate whether or not it is providing value for money; and develop relevant outcomes to help measure


Page 72 of 76

the contribution towards meeting the goal of sustainable development.

Internal Audit The Internal Audit Manager reports on the previous financial year’s work to the Performance and Resources Committee in July. Two internal audits undertaken in 2015/16, namely Taxation Arrangements and Savings and Income Increase Plans were given an “A” opinion – giving assurance of the appropriateness of the Authority’s arrangements. Another two internal audits undertaken in 2015/16, namely Information Security and Managing and Writing Off Debts were given a “B” opinion – giving partial assurance of the appropriateness of the Authority’s arrangements.

Principle 5: Developing the capacity and capability of Members and Officers to be effective

Member Training In 2015/16, member attendance at training events was 59% (49.3% in 2014/15). Training needs for Members is discussed at a number of working groups along with receiving feedback on training undertaken. The annual survey sent out to Members showed that of the Members who responded, 90% rated the frequency and standard of training opportunities as excellent or good.

Wales Charter for Member Support and Development

Current Member role descriptions were reviewed (Member of the Authority, Chair/Vice Chair of Authority, Chair/Vice Chair of Committee) and 3 new role descriptions were introduced (Member Champion, Member of Standards Committee and Chair of Standards Committee) through the Member Working Group on the 21st of October 2015 and formally adopted at the Performance and Resources Committee on the 11th of November 2015. Successful re-assessment of the Member Charter has taken place in early 2016.

Staff Training As part of the Authority’s Budget Strategy, the staff training budget was reduced by £5,000 in 2015/16, representing a 15% cut.


Page 73 of 76

Despite this, the Authority continues to ensure that qualifications are kept up to date e.g. first aid, IOSH Managing Safely, use of machinery etc. Learning and development needs are identified in annual performance appraisal reviews and a training plan is produced by the Head of Personnel which outlines training priorities for the year ahead.

Health and Safety A comprehensive health and safety audit was undertaken in 2015/16 by an external consultant who provided substantial assurance. The report was discussed and the Management Team and Heads of Service meeting on the 4th of February 2016 and all recommendations have been allocated a responsible officer. The Health and Safety Group which meets quarterly will now monitor the progress on implementing the recommendations.

Principle 6: Engaging with local people and other stakeholders to ensure robust public accountability

Strategic Equality Plan

On the 2nd of October 2015 a joint consultation event was undertaken between 14 North Wales public authorities (working together under the banner of North Wales Public Sector Equality Network) to review the joint North Wales Equality Objectives as required by the Equality Act 2010. Over 60 people attended the event representing various groups with protected characteristics, third sector organisations and public sector support services. Snowdonia National Park Authority undertook all the practical and administrative arrangements for the event, which took place at Conwy Business Centre in Llandudno Junction.

Direct Consultation

During 2015/16 the Authority has sought to engage with local people and stakeholders through a range of consultations.


Page 74 of 76

Forums such as the Equality Forum and the Access Forums continue to ensure a consistent mechanism for consulting directly on specific work areas. In addition, open evenings for Town and Community Councils held across the National Park and the annual meeting for agents, as well as the annual meeting for landowners have also taken place. As part of the Snowdon Partnership the Authority has taken the lead with consulting the public and stakeholders on developing a Management Plan for Snowdon. Work is ongoing, and the consultation continues to ensure that all stakeholders have the opportunity to contribute to this important Plan.

Formal Partnerships

Each significant partnership arrangement is governed through a formal agreement and clear lines of accountability. The Partnerships are achieving their stated aims and objectives.

Snowdonia Green Key (Gwynedd and Conwy County Borough Councils, NRW)

Ogwen Visitor Centre (The National Trust, NRW, Communities and Nature Fund)

Rhododendron Management (NRW, The National Trust)

Yr Ysgwrn (Welsh Government, Heritage Lottery Fund, Friends of Yr Ysgwrn)

6. Significant Governance Issues and Actions Proposed for 2016/17

The improvement areas identified are set out in the Corporate Plan for 2016/17 which was approved and adopted by the Authority on the 27th of April 2016. The Corporate Plan duly feeds the Corporate Work Programme for 2016/17, which sets out the actions on improvement for the forthcoming year. The Annual Improvement Assessment 2014/15 by the Wales Audit Office (30 September 2015) did not make any recommendations as such, but noted that:


Page 75 of 76

Recommendation Action to be taken

Develop a more detailed, but proportionate approach to medium-term financial planning that can help the Authority respond effectively to a range of possible reduced-funding scenarios.

The development of a Medium Term Financial Plan has been underway since the summer of 2015, and Members have had several opportunities to consider and contribute to the draft Plan before approving the final Plan on the 9th of December 2015. The Plan will be used as the basis of the annual budget setting process, and as such will be reviewed and updated during the next few years as external factors, such as Welsh Government new priorities and likely settlements become known.

7. Opinion

We propose over the coming year to take steps to address the matters referred to in part 6 to further enhance our governance arrangements. We are satisfied that these steps will address the need for improvements that were identified in our review of effectiveness and will monitor their implementation and operation as part of our next annual review.

EMYR WILLIAMS

CHIEF EXECUTIVE CHAIR

SNOWDONIA NATIONAL PARK SNOWDONIA NATIONAL PARK

AUTHORITY AUTHORITY

DATE 8 JUNE 2016 DATE 8 JUNE 2016


Page 76 of 76

GLOSSARY OF TERMS ACCRUALS The concept that income and expenditure are recognised as they are earned or incurred, not as money is

received or paid. CAPITAL CHARGE A charge to service revenue accounts to reflect the cost of fixed assets used in the provision of service. CAPITAL EXPENDITURE Expenditure on the acquisition of a fixed asset or expenditure which adds to and not merely maintains the

value of an existing fixed asset. CAPITAL RECEIPTS

Proceeds of not less £10,000 from the sale of fixed assets. They may be used to finance new capital expenditure or repay debt. They cannot be used to finance normal day to day revenue spending.

COMMUNITY ASSETS Assets that the authority intends to hold in perpetuity, that have no determinable useful life, and that may

have restrictions on their disposal.

CONTINGENT LIABILITIES/ASSETS

These arise from a past event which is dependent upon future uncertain events and timing prior to being recognised in the accounts.

REVENUE EXPENDITURE FUNDED FROM CAPITAL UNDER STATUTE Expenditure classified as capital for funding purposes but which does not result in the expenditure being

carried on the balance sheet as a fixed asset. These items are generally grants and expenditure on property not owned by the Authority.

DEFINED BENEFIT SCHEME

A pension scheme where the scheme rules define the benefits independently of the contributions payable, and the benefits are not directly related to the investments of the scheme.

FINANCE LEASE A lease that transfers all of the risk and rewards of ownership of a fixed asset to the lessee. OPERATING LEASE A lease other than a finance lease. FIXED ASSETS Tangible assets that yield benefits to the authority and the services it provides for a period of more than

one year. USEFUL LIFE The period over which the authority will derive benefits from the use of a fixed asset. ABBREVIATIONS CIPFA Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy LASAAC Local Authority (Scotland) Accounts Advisory Committee IFRS International Financial Reporting Standard IAS International Accounting Standard

Documents

SNOWDONIA NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY